A blooming flower
by Lily II
Summary: Rose and Scorpius have a sort-of friendship. But then when Rose starts receiving letters from a secret admirer, everything changes...
1. Off to Hogwarts

Rose leaned out of the window as the train chugged out of the station. "Goodbye! Goodbye!" she called, waving to the little group of people who were seeing them off. Then as her parents were obscured in the steam from the engine she turned to Albus, who was standing next to her.

"Shall we find a carriage?" she asked. Albus nodded, and the two of them heaved their trunks along the corridor. They had to go halfway along the train before they found an empty compartment. Albus helped Rose manoeuvre her trunk into the luggage rack, and after they had stored his away as well they sat down.

Suddenly Rose noticed that Albus was carrying a cage with a Snowy Owl in it. "Wow! When did you get it?" she exclaimed. "Dad gave her to me last week when we went to Diagon Alley to get my books and stuff. He said she reminded him of his first owl, Hedwig", Albus explained.

At that moment, someone opened the door. "Mind if I sit here?", he asked. "Everywhere else is full." Rose looked up. In the doorway stood the pale, blond-haired boy her father had pointed out in the station—Scorpius Malfoy. She gave a curt nod, tossed a lock of her curly red hair out of her face, and turned to gaze out of the window, as Albus had pulled out his brand-new copy of _Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them_ and had begun to read.

As Rose gazed at the countryside flashing by the window she let her thoughts wander back to the first time she had met Scorpius. Two years ago, they had managed to get tickets to the Quidditch World Cup. Because they had purchased the cheapest tickets they could, they had had to arrive two weeks before the game. After a few days she knew her way around the campground, and her parents had let her wander as long as she was back for meals. On one of her trips, she had seen a boy who looked about her age. She had walked up to him, and said: "Hi! I'm Rose. What's your name?" He had smiled and answered: "Scorpius." They had played tag together until she had to go. It had been fun, Rose remembered.

She hadn't seen him again, until the night of the game. She and her parents, her little brother Hugo, Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, and her cousins, James, Albus, and Lily, were on their way to the stands. As they had moved towards the entrance, a family of three had come up from behind them. As they passed, Harry and Ron had nodded curtly to the father. She recognized Scorpius, but he had hurried by too fast for her to greet him. After they had gone on, Rose had asked: "Who are they?" "That was Draco Malfoy and his wife and son", her uncle had answered. When she realized she had been playing with a Malfoy, she had been nearly speechless.

She hadn't thought of him since, and now here he was, sitting in her compartment on the Hogwarts Express. She set her jaw stubbornly and continued to gaze fixedly out of the window. Albus was still reading, and there was no way she was talking to him—he was a Malfoy.

It wasn't until it started getting dark that Albus shut his book with a snap and started pulling on his Hogwarts robes. Before Rose knew it, they had arrived at Hogsmeade station. In all the commotion, Scorpius disappeared again. Not that she cared. He's a Malfoy, she told herself. He doesn't matter. Then she heard a voice calling: "Firs' years, over here! Firs' years!" Rose and Albus struggled over to where Hagrid, looking slightly greyer than when her parents had gone to school, was beckoning. "Firs' years? Any more firs' years? Alrigh' then, foller me."

They went down a steep narrow path, through what seemed to be a thick forest. As they rounded a curve in the path, Rose gave a gasp of awe. On the other side of a lake stood a majestic castle, with towers and crenellations and lights everywhere.

Hagrid led them down to the edge of the water, and told them to get into the boats that were there. "No more'n four to a boat! Are yeh all ready? Well then, 'ere we go!" As they travelled across the lake Rose continued to gaze up at the castle. Soon they were at the other side. As they reached the cliff the castle was built on, Hagrid yelled: "Heads down!" They all ducked and the boats entered a tunnel in the cliff. It seemed to go right under Hogwarts itself. They landed at an underground harbour, and once all the first years had clambered out, Hagrid led them up through a passage in the rock, which came out on a smooth expanse of lawn in front of the castle's main doors.

Hagrid took them up a flight of stone steps to the doors, and as he knocked, Rose squirmed her way forward until she was directly behind him. She peered in excitedly as the great doors swung open, wondering what life would be like here at Hogwarts.

The doors opened to reveal a tall, stern-looking witch with auburn hair neatly pulled back into a bun. "I've brought the firs' years, Professor Ffloyd," said Hagrid."Thank you Hagrid. Come along, children, follow me," said Professor Ffloyd in a strong Scottish accent.

She led them across the huge stone entrance hall, which was lit by flickering torches. Opposite them was a marble staircase leading to the upper floors. From a doorway to the right came the sound of hundreds of voices, but Professor Ffloyd took them to a small empty room next to the stairs. They crowded in, and as Rose turned to face the professor she wondered what was coming next.

She and the other first years didn't have long to wait. Professor Ffloyd smiled at them all, and began: "First of all, welcome to Hogwarts. We will shortly begin the start-of-term feast, but before that, you will all be sorted into your houses." Rose had heard about the beginning-of-term speech that was given to the first years, so she let her attention wander as Professor Ffloyd explained the Sorting. "…it will take place in a few minutes in the Great Hall. I will come get you when we are ready. Please wait quietly."

A few minutes later she came back, told them all to line up behind her, and led them across the Entrance Hall to the doors Rose had noticed before. The Great Hall was lit by hundreds of floating candles, and when Rose looked up past them she could see the enchanted ceiling her mother had told her about. Professor Ffloyd took them up to the front between two of the four long tables that were filled with students. She lined them up in front of a stool with an old hat on it.

Rose had heard about the School Sorting Hat, and was looking forward to hearing its song—that is, until she realized who she was standing next to. Scorpius Malfoy again. She was so busy ignoring him that she scarcely heard the Hat describing the qualities of the four Houses and its own role in Sorting the students.

The hall burst into applause as the Sorting Hat finished singing; then Professor Ffloyd stepped forward, holding a scroll. "When I call your name, you will step forward, put the Hat on, and sit on the stool," she said. Then she unrolled her scroll and began.

"Ackerley, Michelle!" A brown-haired girl with glasses shyly walked forward, put on the Hat, which nearly covered her face, and sat down. After a moment's pause, a rip in the Hat opened and it shouted: "RAVENCLAW!" "Belby, George!" was also made a Ravenclaw, but then "Bletchley, Tracie!" became the first new Slytherin. Rose looked over to the Slytherin table. As "Bones, Thomas!" was Sorted into Hufflepuff, she studied the faces. She had heard a lot about Slytherin from her dad. They didn't seem to be that pleasant, to put it mildly.

A few people later, "Creevey, Emma!" was the first to be Sorted into Gryffindor. As Rose gazed at the table on the far left, to which Emma was now making her way, she hoped that she would be sitting there next year, cheering the new arrivals. She brought her attention back to the Sorting. By the time "Goldstein, Luther!" ("RAVENCLAW!"), "Johnson, Roger!" ("GRYFFINDOR!"), and "Macmillan, Steven!" ("HUFFLEPUFF!") had been Sorted, her stomach was starting to grumble hungrily. They were more than halfway through, however, so she supposed she could wait.

Suddenly she heard Professor Ffloyd call out: "Malfoy, Scorpius!" She watched in spite of herself as Scorpius walked forward, put on the Hat, and sat down. It seemed ages before the Hat finally bellowed: "SLYTHERIN!" Rose wasn't surprised. But she wondered why it had taken so long; she had assumed he would be put in Slytherin immediately.

The next few people were all Slytherins. Then she heard: "Potter, Albus!" She held her breath as her cousin put on the Hat. A few seconds later it shouted: "GRYFFINDOR!" She looked over to the Gryffindor table, where her cousins Dominique, Louis, Molly, Fred, Roxanne, and James were cheering Albus' arrival.

"Smith, Arthur!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" "Spinnet, Peter!" "GRYFFINDOR!" Stevens, Maria!" "RAVENCLAW!" "Thomas, Margaret!" "GRYFFINDOR!" "Weasley, Lucy!" Another one of Rose's red-haired cousins stepped forward. "GRYFFINDOR!" Smiling, Lucy went to sit next to her older sister, Molly.

Then Professor Ffloyd called out: "Weasley, Rose!" Rose gulped, walked forward, put on the Hat, and sat down. A little voice in her ear said: "Another Weasley, eh? You've got courage, no doubt about that. But you've got brains as well. You could do well in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Now, which one should I put you in?" Rose gripped the edge of the stool and thought: "Please Gryffindor. I want to be in Gryffindor." "If you wish," said the Hat. It bellowed to the rest of the school: "GRYFFINDOR!" As she took off the Hat and went to sit by her cousin, she was so happy she didn't notice Scorpius Malfoy staring at her from the Slytherin table.

There were only three people left now. "Whitby, Anne!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" "Wood, Mark!" "GRYFFINDOR!" "Zabini, Leora!" "SLYTHERIN!" Professor Ffloyd rolled up her scroll and took away the Sorting Hat.

At the High table, a witch wearing emerald-green robes stood up. Rose recognized her as Professor McGonagall. The Headmistress of Hogwarts had been at their house before, so Rose knew what she was like. "There is," the Head began, "a time for eating, and a time for fasting; a time for giving speeches, and a time for being silent. I would like to say a few words before we start our feast. They are: I hope you enjoy it!"

Food appeared all along the tables, and everyone began eating. After the remains of the last course had vanished, everyone began trooping up to bed. Rose heard her cousin Dominique calling: "First years, follow me!" Rose and Lucy squirmed through the crowd to join the other first years as they followed Dominique up the marble staircase. She led them through what seemed like hundreds of corridors and up several flights of steps to the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady, who still guarded the portrait hole, asked: "Password?" "Flobberworm," Dominique answered. Once inside Gryffindor Tower, she directed the boys up one set of stairs to their dormitory, and the girls up another. Rose fell sleepily into bed, wondering if she'd ever find her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning.


	2. Roses have thorns

Chapter 2: Roses have thorns

Over the next few weeks, Rose saw scarcely anything of Scorpius. Gryffindor and Slytherin only shared Potions lessons – until a notice went up in the common-room, stating that flying lessons would be starting that Friday, and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.

"Brilliant," Rose muttered to Emma Creevey, one of her dorm-mates with whom she had struck up a friendship. "Not only do we get to learn how to fall off a broom, we get to do it with the Slytherins watching."

But her first flying lesson didn't go as badly as she expected. In fact, it went pretty well. Rose got better and better with each lesson. Pretty soon the flying teacher, Madam Hooch, was letting them fly around the smooth lawn, on which they were learning, at the end of every lesson, just for fun.

After one such flying time, Madam Hooch stopped Rose as she went to put her broom away. In her crisp, clear-cut voice, she declared: "My aunt had the privilege of teaching your aunt and uncles, especially Harry Potter. Now I have another generation of Weasley Quidditch players to teach, and I think it's safe to say you can count yourself among them."

Rose stammered out a thank you, and went to lay her broom with the others. On the way back to the castle, she heard someone behind her call out her name. She turned, and stiffened. It was Scorpius Malfoy.

He caught up to her as she continued towards the castle. Ignoring her cold silence, he said: "Hey, Rose?" She turned and glared at him.

"What do you want, Malfoy?", she inquired angrily.

"Well, I was going to ask you if you wanted to play a game of chess," he retorted. "But since you nearly bit my head off when I said Hey, I guess the answer's no."

Rose asked coldly: "And why do you think I'd want to play chess with you?"

"I thought it'd be fun. We had fun playing together at the World Cup."

"That was ages ago. It has nothing to do with now."

"Oh yes it does," Scorpius stormed at her. "It was only two years ago, and you didn't have a problem with me until you realized I was a Malfoy. I suppose your Weasley mindset couldn't encompass being friends with a Malfoy. If you don't want to be friends with me, I don't want to be friends with you either. Goodbye."

He turned and stomped up the steps and through the doors. Rose yelled after him: "You're quite right. I don't ever want to be friends with you!" Then she marched up the staircase and headed for Gryffindor Tower.

She found her dorm-mates in the dormitory, relaxing after the intense flying lesson. She had already formed her opinions of them. Emma Creevey was quite nice, although inclined to giggling. Lucy Weasley, her cousin, was full of fun and jokes; quite the opposite of her older sister, Molly, who was her father Percy all over again. Margaret Thomas was rather quiet, but had a good sense of humour. And Susie Finnegan, with her mother's curly hair and her father's thick accent, was pretty much what Rose had expected Lavender Brown's daughter to be like. Among other things she had inherited her mother's long blonde hair and a tendency to flirting.

When Rose came into the dormitory, threw herself onto the bed, and proceeded to glare at the ceiling, Lucy asked: "What happened? I saw Madam Hooch keep you behind. Are you in trouble?"

"No. actually she as good as told me that I'll be on the Quidditch team next year."

"Then if it wasn't Madam Hooch, who made you mad?", Emma asked.

"Malfoy," was Rose's angry response.

"What'd he do?", Susie said interestedly.

"He asked me if I wanted to play chess with him. As if I would ever even want to talk to him." Rose had started to calm down. "And then, he said something about how he thought maybe we could be friends. I wonder if someone put a Confundus Charm on him? I'm a Gryffindor, he's a Slytherin. Why does he think I would ever want to associate with him?"

"Well," put in Susie, with a half-dreamy look on her face, "he does have wonderful bright blue eyes."

"How would you know what colour his eyes are?", Emma interjected.

Susie replied: "Mary Finch-Fletchley told me she heard Leora Zabini and Clara Parkinson talking about him. Oh, and did you hear what Jean Bulstrode called Anastasia Boot yesterday?"

As Susie went off into a flow of gossip, Rose relaxed and gazed out of the window towards the Forbidden Forest. They had a free period before lunch, and Transfiguration, Herbology, and Charms later on. Their next Potions lesson wasn't until Tuesday, so she wouldn't have to endure Scorpius Malfoy until then. Her friends' conversation washed over her. She smiled, enjoying the quiet chatter and the sunny morning outside. She was definitely going to enjoy her time at Hogwarts.


	3. Quidditch

**A/N: This chapter takes place in second year. The next two chapters are third and fourth year respectively. Chapter 6 is at the start of fifth year, and from then on they're pretty much chronological.**

Rose lay in bed, feeling nervous as she gazed out of the window at the swallows flying around in the early morning air. That afternoon the Gryffindor Quidditch trials were taking place.

"I must have been mental," she said aloud, thinking of no other reason for her decision to try out for Chaser.

On the other side of the room, Lucy mumbled: "What?"

"Nothing," Rose answered. "Just talking to myself."

"Mmm," Lucy muttered, and she turned over and went back to sleep.

Rose smiled. It was in moments like this that she was glad that she was the only early riser in her dorm. On weekdays, she was the one who woke everyone else up in time, but since it was Saturday, she had nearly decided to let them sleep in; until she looked over at Emma, sleeping soundly on her left, and decided not to be merciful after all.

The other girls were woken by Emma's shout before she fired Rose's pillow right back at her. Within minutes all five of them were busy thwacking each other.

Suddenly Lucy's older sister Molly, now in fourth year, stuck her head in the door and asked, in tones that reminded Rose of her Uncle Percy, if they weren't able to let other people sleep in on the first Saturday of term. Rather sheepishly they all put their pillows down and instead started arguing good-naturedly about who would get to use the bathroom first.

Rose grinned to herself. Emma, Lucy, and herself had started a threesome at the beginning of their first year, and judging by the first week it was going to be just as fun sharing a dorm with them in second year. Margaret and Susie were nice, too, but she had really hit it off with the other two. If last year had been anything to judge by, the second year Gryffindors were in for a fun time.

Lucy was more like her Uncle George than her father, full of silly pranks and ideas. Rose had the brains, and Emma's common sense, when she wasn't giggling, balanced the trio out.

Once the three of them had gotten dressed, they made their way down to breakfast. It had taken Rose most of her whole first term at school to learn her way around the more important parts of the castle, and it was so huge she was sure she would still be coming upon new corridors and classrooms in her seventh year, but by now she knew her way down to the Great Hall as well as she knew her way around her house.

Over breakfast she discussed the possibility of getting onto the team with Peter Spinnet, another Quidditch hopeful in her year.

"My Aunt Alicia wants me to go for Chaser," Peter said with his mouth full, "but I dunno. Chasing doesn't really appeal to me. I'd much rather be Keeper."

"We're opposites then," Rose responded. "My dad was Keeper, but I'd rather be a Chaser. Much more action to it."

Quidditch tryouts were at three o'clock that afternoon. Rose spent the morning in the library, doing homework and reading. When Lucy came to find her for lunch, she laughed.

"You grow more and more like Aunt Hermione every day," she teased.

Rose smiled. "Is that such a bad thing?"

"Not as long as you still have time for the real world," Lucy countered. Laughing, they went to lunch.

Once Rose had eaten all she could of her shepherd's pie, she made her way outside with Emma and Lucy. "We've got an hour before I have to go get ready for tryouts," Rose said. "Shall we find a place to sit?"

"Alright," Emma agreed. "Where?"

Rose was about to agree to Lucy's suggestion of the bench in the courtyard where they normally sat, when she saw Scorpius Malfoy and some of his friends sitting nearby.

"No, I'd rather not sit there today. Why don't we go sit down by the lake?", she enquired hastily.

The threesome went to sit under a tree near the water's edge. "What's the Charms homework from yesterday?", Lucy asked. She had had to go to the school nurse, Madam Pomfrey, because of a headache, and had missed the Charms lesson.

"Oh please;" Emma groaned. "Don't mention homework." But Rose ignored her.

"Professor Tumpty's started teaching us _Expelliarmus_," she responded, turning to Lucy. "But a lot of people couldn't manage it yet, so we're supposed to practice it for next week."

"Of course," Emma interjected, "Rose got it first time. I still need to practice it though."

Emma and Lucy started attempting to Disarm each other. Rose watched for a bit. Then she noticed Scorpius Malfoy and some other Slytherins who she thought were called Howard Nott and Joseph Bryant. The Slytherins sat down under a tree nearby, ignoring the Gryffindors. Rose was going to return the favour, until she heard Scorpius—Malfoy, she corrected herself—say something about Quidditch.

"I tried out for Chaser. Got in, of course," Scor—Malfoy was saying. Rose clenched her fists. If Malfoy was a Slytherin Chaser, there was no way she was failing tryouts, she thought to herself.

Speaking of tryouts—she glanced at her watch. It was twenty to three already. "Gotta go," she said, jumping up.

"We'll walk you back up to the castle," Lucy suggested.

After Rose had tied up her red locks and gotten her broom, a Lightning Bolt 300, they hurried down to the Quidditch pitch. Emma and Lucy went to go sit in the stands and watch, after wishing her good luck.

Rose walked nervously on to the pitch to join the small group of people standing there. Only two spaces on the team were open, that of Keeper and one of the three Chasers. Rose saw Peter standing at the edge, and smiled half-heartedly at him.

She thought back to her earlier statement about being mental, and smiled to herself as she remembered, from the stories Uncle Harry had told her, that her dad had cast the same aspersions on his own intelligence the day of his first match.

Coming back out of her daydreams, she heard Susan Bell, Katie Bell's niece, one of the Chasers, and Quidditch Captain, announce that the Keeper tryouts would happen first. Rose and the other three or four people who were trying out for Chaser went off to the side to watch Peter and the other two Keeper applicants take their turns at defending the hoops.

Susan and James, who was the other Chaser, took turns attempting to score. Peter saved all five tries, and since the other two, a sixth year and a fourth year, had only managed to save four apiece, Peter was Keeper. Rose cheered and gave him a thumbs-up.

She heard Susan calling for the Chaser applicants to come forward. She swallowed, gripped her broom hard, and went to wait her turn at playing with the other two and trying to get the Quaffle past Peter. Her stomach seemed full of butterflies and she wondered how on earth she'd been able to eat anything at lunchtime. Then it was her turn.

She passed the Quaffle back and forth with James and Susan, and then suddenly turned and threw it hard. It sailed just past Peter's outstretched arm and through the hoop. In the stands below, Emma and Lucy cheered.

Rose scored three more times. She had one try left, and if she got this one in, she'd make the team. She glanced around as James soared towards the ground to pick up the Quaffle. Suddenly she saw something which made her frown and lean forward a bit. What was Sco—Malfoy doing watching Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts? Wanted to see what he was up against, no doubt, Rose thought. She clenched her teeth. She'd show him!

As James and Susan started throwing the ball back and forth again, she knew just what she was going to do. She caught the red ball as it came flying towards her, and turned and sped towards the goalposts.

When she reached them, she slowed, threw the Quaffle slightly into the air, and spun sharply. There were gasps of surprise from the people watching below, which turned into gasps of awe as the tail of her Lightning Bolt 300 hit the Quaffle as it came back down again, sending it soaring straight through the left hoop.

For a moment everyone was silent, and then Emma, Lucy, Sally Peakes, the Seeker, and her cousins Fred and Roxanne, Beaters, erupted in cheering. James flew over and hugged her, and Susan, with a smile on her face, said: "Welcome to the team. Where did you learn that?"

Rose grinned and said: "When most of your family is Quidditch-mad, you soon learn how to play well."

"Well, as long as you play like that in every game," said Susan, "I think we've got a pretty good chance at winning the Quidditch Cup this year." Rose smiled proudly. Not even Scorpius Malfoy, staring at her with a strange expression on his face as she swept back down to the ground, could deter her from her present happiness.


	4. A chess game

**A/N: As I mentioned before, this chapter takes place in third year.**

**_The Hobbit_ is also one of my favourite books **

**And I must say that reviews, even if you just say "Hi, there's someone reading this!" would make me update faster. If I don't get any reviews, I'll only be updating about once a week.**

Rose bent over her notes and added a few more sentences to her Defence Against the Dark Arts essay on werewolves. After glancing through it one last time, she decided she'd written all she could on the subject, and rolled it up and put it back into her schoolbag. She pulled out a fresh piece of parchment to start work on an Ancient Runes translation for Professor Hecton. It wasn't due until next Wednesday, but Rose liked getting a head start on things.

She was hard at work when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone sit down opposite her. It was the only free seat left in the library, as most students had left their homework until that Sunday afternoon. Once she had finished a line of writing, Rose looked up to see who it was. Brilliant. Of all the students at Hogwarts, it had to be Malfoy who came and sat opposite her.

She looked at what he was writing. He had wonderfully clear script which Rose found easy to read, even upside down. He was writing the essay on the Giant Wars that she had finished yesterday. Suddenly she broke the silence between them. "That's not right."

Scorpius Malfoy looked at her. "What isn't, Weasley?"

Rose pointed. "That. It was 1906, not 1901."

Scorpius grudgingly admitted she was right, and bent to correct it. Rose noticed the way his blond hair fell over his forehead. It looked nice. Merlin! What was wrong with her, she thought. First she talked to Malfoy, and then she found herself staring at his hair.

She threw a red curl that had fallen into her face back over her shoulder and bent to the page of angular Runes again, just missing the glance Scorpius gave her. The two of them continued working.

Half an hour later, Rose put down her quill, rolled up her translation, and started putting her stuff away. "You done?", Scorpius asked.

Rose looked at him confusedly. Had Scorpius Malfoy just asked her a civil question? "Yes," she replied, "why?"

"Well," Scorpius said, putting away his parchment, "I was wondering, seeing as we've both finished our homework, and there's another forty-five minutes until dinner, if you'd like to play chess with me?" As Rose stared at him blankly, wondering what on earth she should say, he added: "I took the precaution of asking you in the library, so you wouldn't yell like you did in first year."

Rose blushed involuntarily, remembering. She put her quill into her bag, and turned back to Scorpius. Shrugging, she said: "Why not? I haven't got any real reason for saying no." But one problem had occurred to her. "Where shall we play? We can't exactly play in either the Gryffindor or the Slytherin common-room."

Scorpius thought for a minute. Then he said: "There's a small room right next door with a table and chairs where we could play. Have you got a chess set?"

"Of course." Rose gave him a withering glance.

"Meet you there in five minutes?"

"Alright."

They played chess for the next half hour. Rose had beaten Scorpius once, and he had beaten her once, when she looked at her watch and mentioned that they'd better clear up, else they'd be late for dinner.

One scramble up to Gryffindor tower and back down again to the Great Hall later, Rose slid into her seat next to Lucy and started eating. On Lucy's other side, Emma asked: "Where were you? You're not normally late for mealtimes."Rose noticed Albus lean in to listen, so she muttered a quick "Tell you later" to her friends and kept eating.

On her way out of the Great Hall after dinner, she noticed Scorpius at the Slytherin table, drawing what on a second glance seemed to be the constellation map due for Astronomy the next day. Funny, she thought. I thought he told me he'd finished all his homework?

She puzzled over it until she reached the portrait hole; giving the password ("Mandrake root") she entered and headed up the stairs to her dormitory, where Emma and Lucy were waiting for her.

"So", Lucy asked eagerly, "where were you? And why didn't you tell us at dinner?"

"Al was listening. It's none of his business. Swear you two won't tell anyone?"

"Of course we won't, if you don't want us to," Emma said. "But why's it such a secret?"

"Because I'm not sure how people would take it. I was playing chess with Malfoy."

"Malfoy?", Lucy broke in. "As in, _Scorpius_ Malfoy, that stuck up blonde idiot in Slytherin?"

"What other Malfoy's do you know? And he's not an idiot. He actually won one game. But I beat him in the other," was Rose's response.

"I'm not surprised. You're Ron Weasley's daughter," Emma chipped in. "But why did you play with him?"

"Because both of us had free time and he asked me to," Rose answered. "It's not such a big deal."

She reached over to her bedside table, picked up _T__he Hobbit_ (one of her favourites, even though it was Muggle literature), and started reading. But even though she was following the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and his friends, a small part of her was still wondering if Scorpius Malfoy had lied about his homework to play chess with her.


	5. Hogsmeade

**A/N: Here's chapter 5! This one is in fourth year, then chapter 6 will be the beginning of fifth year.**

**Before you start reading, I want to say (and I should have mentioned this earlier) a BIG thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited, or added this to their alert list. Every time I see something like that in my inbox, I get really excited. Thank you so much everyone!**

Chapter 5: Hogsmeade

Rose made her way down to breakfast, feeling excited. It was the second Saturday in October, and the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year. Even though she was a fourth year now, she still got excited at the prospect of a trip to Hogsmeade. Judging by all the chatter going on around her, most people felt the same. She wasn't sure how she found time to eat in between conversations, but she managed somehow.

Once breakfast was over, everyone third year and above went to get ready. Rose put on her cloak, then, because it was a little chilly outside, grabbed her Gryffindor scarf and gloves as well. She ran down the stairs to join Emma and Lucy in the common room. "All set?", Lucy asked. Rose nodded and the three of them went to join the crowd in the Entrance Hall. After a lot of confusion they were all aboard the carriages and were rumbling off to Hogsmeade.

Once they arrived, Emma, Rose, and Lucy jumped out with a "See you later" to Albus and Michael Jordan who had been sharing their carriage. First, they headed to Zonko's, where they spent an enjoyable half-hour trying out the new Bitty Brooms—a series of miniature broomsticks that really flew—and buying a box of Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-start No-heat Fireworks to use at Lucy's birthday party next month. Then they went to Honeydukes, where Rose stocked up on Chocolate Frogs, Liquorice Wands, Cauldron cakes, and Sugar Quills, her all-time favourite.

They were on their way to the Three Broomsticks, when Rose noticed a couple coming towards them, holding hands. Rose nudged Emma. "Who's that?", she asked, pointing.

Emma squinted through the fine drizzle that had started to fall. "I think it's Malfoy and Zabini. Why?"

"Just wondering," Rose muttered.

Zabini? As in, Leora Zabini, that black-haired stuck-up Slytherin girl? What was Scorpius doing, walking through Hogsmeade holding hands with her? Not that it was really any of her business.

She hurried into the Three Broomsticks after Lucy. The pub was noisy, crowded with Hogwarts students who, like Rose, Emma, and Lucy, had come in to shelter from the rain and warm up. The trio fought their way through to the bar, ordered three Butterbeers, and pushed through to an empty table in the corner.

The Three Broomsticks had never been so crowded, Rose thought. She mentioned it to Lucy. "I suppose it's because it's the first Hogsmeade weekend, so almost everyone came down, and when it started raining they all came in here to shelter," Lucy surmised. When they had finished their drinks, Lucy said: "I'm ready to go, are you?" The other two agreed and the three of them struggled past the tables to the door.

On their way back to Hogwarts, they saw Malfoy and Zabini again. For some reason, Rose felt like walking up and punching Zabini in the face. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and turned to join in Emma and Lucy's discussion about exactly how awful Professor Bletchley, Potions Master and Head of Slytherin, had been the previous week. It didn't help that Tracie Bletchley, a Slytherin in their year, was his niece. Teachers weren't supposed to show favouritism, but...

The next afternoon, Rose quickly finished her homework and went to play her by now standard Sunday afternoon game of chess with Scorpius. Once the game was well under way, she looked up at him and said: "I saw you in Hogsmeade yesterday."

"Oh did you?" Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "And why didn't you come say hello?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Rose scoffed. "My friends tolerate the idea of my playing chess with you, but when I'm with them I can't just up and talk to you…besides, you were—occupied." She glanced down at the chess board again. "Bishop to D7."

As her bishop moved forward to beat down one of his castles, he looked puzzled. "What do you mean, occupied?"

"With Zabini."

"Got a problem with that?"

"No." But her tone said otherwise.

"Rose?" Scorpius asked, with a look in his eyes that would have made her very confused had she seen it, "is anything wrong?"

"No," Rose replied, determinedly brushing specks of dust off her robes, "nothing's wrong. Now are you going to move or not?"

Scorpius gave her another puzzled look, and returned his attention to the game.

Late that evening, Rose tumbled sleepily into bed. She thought back over her conversation of the afternoon. She tried to figure out exactly what she'd been feeling, but couldn't really explain it. She finally decided that she'd just been taking a friendly interest, and was definitely not jealous of Zabini. Not at all.


	6. McGonagall's announcement

**A/N: As you can see, here's chapter six. I hope you enjoy it!**

**And thank you again to everyone one favourited or added this to their alerts list! It really makes my day.**

**From now on, the chapters will follow each other, rather than jumping from year to year.**

**Oh, and on other stories, I've noticed that people put up disclaimers to say that they don't own most of the characters. I figured that I don't need to, right? I mean, it's fanfiction, so you ought to know that I only own the OCs. :-)**

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><p>Rose made her way through the crowds of chattering students, heading for the Headmistress' office. It was a Thursday afternoon, and Professor McGonagall had asked the prefects to attend a special meeting. Rose, being one of that privileged group, told the gargoyle guarding the moving steps "Chocolate Frog" and headed up the staircase.<p>

When she reached the top, she was about to knock, when she heard voices from inside. She leaned in to hear better. One of them sounded like Scorpius Malfoy. She knew she shouldn't, but she stayed pressed up against the door, trying to figure out what was going on.

"…and I don't know what to do," Scorpius was saying. "I'm afraid that if I tell her, I'll ruin our friendship. But I can't go on like this for much longer." A voice that Rose couldn't quite place answered him.

"I once liked a girl. I was friends with her, but then I made a stupid mistake and spoiled our friendship. If I had told her how I felt, it might have been different. But I didn't, and she married someone else. Don't hesitate—it would be better to tell her straight out and be rejected than not. Find love if you can, and don't waste time worrying if she'll refuse."

"I'll try it," Scorpius said determinedly.

He would have said more, but Rose, hearing someone coming up the stairs, knocked on the door and entered. She found Scorpius standing to the left of Professor McGonagall's desk, and as there was no-one else in the room, she wondered who he'd been talking to. Then her eye fell upon a portrait behind him, of a greasy-haired man with a hooked nose and cold black eyes. Scorpius had been facing the painting of Professor Snape, but when Rose came in he turned around to see who it was.

He looked—could it be worried?—but then his face smoothed out and he said: "Hello Rose."

"Hi," Rose answered, and was about to say more, but Albus, the other 5th year Gryffindor prefect, came in at that moment, closely followed by Annie Wood and their cousin Louis, Gryffindor 6th years. A few minutes later Robert Clearwater and Anastasia Boot, the Ravenclaw 5th year prefects, came in, followed by Thomas Bones and Mary Finch-Fletchley,5th years in Hufflepuff. The 7th year prefects (Alex Carter from Gryffindor, Natalie Nicholson and Jonas Smith in Hufflepuff, Martin Flint and Stacy Tremain, Slytherins, and the Ravenclaws Stephanie Corner and Andrew Lennon) came in all at once, having just attended some 7th year meeting. Finally the 6th year prefects had trickled in as well, and only Leora Zabini, who much to Rose's annoyance was the female Slytherin prefect, and Rose's cousin Molly, who was Head girl, were missing. Christopher Davies, the Head Boy, whose younger sister Samantha was a Ravenclaw in Rose's year, was sick in Hospital wing and unable to attend.

The meeting was scheduled for five o'clock. Rose, who liked to be early, had arrived at ten to, and by five everyone was there. Professor McGonagall came in at five, and asked everyone to please sit down on the chairs that she conjured in a semicircle in front of her desk. Rose had been over by the window, so when she came to sit down the only seat left was one on the end, next to Scorpius. She sat down.

Professor McGonagall looked at them all over the top of her glasses and began.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming today. As you all know, the Triwizard Tournament no longer takes place, because it is too dangerous. However, after conferring with the Ministry and with the Heads of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, we have decided to reinstate the Yule Ball. It will be held every year. This year, it will be at Beauxbatons, next year at Durmstrang, and the year after here at Hogwarts. Only students who are in their seventh year may attend when it does not take place at their school. However, we will be having a ball at Christmas for those who do not go to Beauxbatons. Does any one have any suggestions as to what we could do to make it more interesting?"

There was chatter for a few minutes, as people considered the idea and gave their opinions.

"How about a fancy-dress ball?"

"Or some sort of theme that every one has to adhere to."

"Like a colour theme?"

"Or we could choose a certain style, such as early 19th century."

After a while, Gwen Peters, a 6th year Ravenclaw, spoke up.

"How about a fancy-dress masquerade ball?"

After some more discussion, everyone aprroved that idea. Professor McGonagall tapped some pieces of paper on the desk in front of her, so that they carried details of the ball, and handed them out. "Please put up these notices in your common-rooms. Thank you for coming. That will be all for today."

The prefects got up, thanked the Headmistress, and dispersed to their various common-rooms to put up the notices about the ball. Rose went to find Emma and Lucy.

"What did McGonagall want?", Emma asked.

Rose said, looking excited: "We're having a masquerade ball at Christmas!" The three of them started eagerly talking about it.

During dinner, it was apparent that those who hadn't seen the notice had been told about it, for everyone was chattering as much as they could. Once dinner was over, Professor McGonagall stood up. The hall fell silent as people turned their attention towards the High Table.

When all eyes were on her, Professor McGonagall began: "As most of you know by now, the Yule Ball has been reinstated and will be taking place at Beauxbatons this year. All seventh year students who wish to attend will please give their names to their Heads of Houses. For those of you who remain at Hogwarts, we will be having a masquerade ball for fourth years and above. Younger students may only attend if asked by an older student. It will be a fancy-dress ball, with prizes for the best costumes. The Yule ball is on the 20th of December; we will travel to Beauxbatons on the 15th. The masquerade ball is on the 28th. All students attending the Yule Ball must let us know before the 15th of November. Now, off to bed, all of you, and have a good night's rest."

Everyone headed to their common-rooms. Rose was feeling even more excited than she'd been before—until she notices Scorpius going down to the Slytherin common-room, with Zabini hanging on his arm. For some reason, the sight made her mad. It took quite an effort to stop thinking about it and join in the other girls' talk about what they were going to wear.

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><p>A few weeks later, Rose, Emma, and Lucy headed straight for Harriet's Boutique, a store that sold all sorts of things as well as robes, as soon as their carriage stopped in Hogsmeade. They found Molly, Al's younger sister Lily, now in 3rd year, and Uncle George's daughter Roxanne, a 7th year and Gryffindor Beater and Quidditch Captain, waiting for them. The Weasley girls had decided to make choosing their dresses a family outing.<p>

"What are you doing here, Lily?", Rose asked as they prepared to enter the shop.

"Choosing a dress, of course. What else would I be doing?"

"Who's asked you?", Lucy enquired.

"Roger Johnson," was Lily's response. Rose threw a quick glance at Emma. Hearing your best friend's cousin say that she was going to the ball with someone you had a crush on couldn't exactly be easy. But Emma was talking to Roxy and seemed not to have noticed.

The six girls spent an enjoyable hour choosing their dresses. After a lot of back and forth they had each decided.

Rose had bought a flowing, filmy, sparkly, turquoise-blue dress, and intended to be a water nymph. Roxanne, in glowing yellow robes that set off the light-brown creaminess of her skin, was going to be a sunflower. Emma, after a lot of dithering, had chosen a dark blue dress that she intended to cover with stars, to go as the night sky. The blue made her bright blond hair shine. Lily decided to wear a multicoloured dress, and with its help was going to become a butterfly. Lucy, in a slim dark green dress which went wonderfully with her dark-red hair, was going as a water-lily, and planned on making a flower headdress. Molly said that she didn't really care what she wore, but the others made her get a white dress covered in sequins in which she looked gorgeous.

She was going to the Yule Ball at Beauxbatons, but Roxy was one of the few 7th years who had decided to stay behind. Rose suspected that Roxy's decision had some thing to do with a certain 6th year in Ravenclaw. Whatever the reason, Roxy was staying at Hogwarts.

Once they had paid for everything, the girls left the shop and parted company: Lily left to find Hugo and Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, Molly and Roxanne decided to go to the Three Broomsticks for some Butterbeer, and Rose, Emma, and Lucy went to Honeydukes.

"So, who are you going to the ball with?", Lucy asked, as they browsed through the rows of candy.

Rose shrugged. "No-one's asked me yet. But there's another month and a half, so I figure someone will ask me."

"I'm going with Walter Madley," Emma stated. "You know, the black-haired one on Hufflepuff. He asked me last week after Herbology, and since I knew that Roger had already asked Lily, I accepted. Who are you going with, Lucy?"

Lucy smiled. "Michael Jordan. I wonder who Susie's going with? She's had so many boyfriends that I have no idea which one she'll take."

Late that evening, while getting ready for bed, Rose thought back to their conversation. She hoped someone would ask her, because she certainly did not want to be stuck with going on her own.


	7. A secret admirer

The corridors were full of students heading from one class to the next. Rose hurried through, making for the Transfiguration classroom. Professor Longbottom, the Herbology teacher, had kept them behind to explain something in detail, and she was in danger of being late. She slid into her seat just as the bell rang.

Professor Ffloyd passed out the frogs they would be attempting to Vanish that day, and bid them get to work.

Rose reached into her bag to pull out her wand. Her questing fingers found the corner of something unfamiliar. She pulled it out. It was a pale-blue envelope with _Rose_ written on the outside. She would have opened it, but Lucy nudged her. Professor Ffloyd was glancing their way, so she hurriedly pulled out her wand and started practicing _Evanesco_.

After dinner that evening, she hurried up to her dormitory, where she sat down on her bed and took the pale-blue envelope out of her bag again. Lucy walked into the room as she opened it. "What's that?", Lucy asked. "I've no idea," Rose answered. "I found it in my bag, but I don't know how it got there. It says Rose on the outside." She pulled out the paper inside and unfolded it. The clear handwriting seemed familiar, but she wasn't sure where she'd seen it before. She began to read.

_Dear Rose,_

_Ever since I first met you, I've liked you. I like your dark red curls, your beautiful blue eyes, your captivating smile. I scarcely dare ask this, but nevertheless: Will you go to the ball with me? If you will, then tell me so by wearing your pretty little blue butterfly necklace tomorrow._

_Your Secret Admirer_

Rose stared at the paper blankly, wondering who on earth could have sent it. Lucy interrupted her thoughts.

"What does it say? Who's it from?"

Rose handed her the letter. "Here, read it."

Lucy's eyes skimmed the words. She gave it back to Rose. "So, will you?"

Rose looked at Lucy. "I don't know. What if it's from someone I don't like, and that's why he asked me this way?"

Lucy countered: "What if it's from someone who's too shy to ask you outright? I'd say yes, unless of course there's someone in particular you're hoping to go with."

"No, there isn't," Rose said. "I'll think about it…" She leaned over, put the note on her bedside table, and headed back down to the common-room.

Two riotous gamed of chess later, she said goodnight and went to bed. The moonlight falling through her window landed on the note from her secret admirer. She was still undecided as she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, when she was dressed, she got her butterfly necklace out and stood there holding it, debating whether or nor to put it on.

Emma stuck her head through the door. "Rose, are you coming? It's not like you to be late for breakfast."

In a moment of sudden determination she fastened the silver chain around her neck and followed Emma down the stairs.

That afternoon, Rose opened her bag to find another pale-blue envelope. As she pulled it out, she thought back over the lessons of the day. They had had Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins, Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, Transfiguration, and then she had gone to Ancient Runes with the Ravenclaws. So anyone from any house could have slipped it in—except that she strongly doubted that it was a Slytherin. She unfolded the note and scanned the contents.

_Dear Rose,_

_I can't describe how excited I was when I saw the butterfly hanging around your neck. On the day of the ball, meet me in the Entrance Hall at the foot of the staircase. I'll be waiting for you. Until then, I'll still be_

_Your Secret Admirer_

Rose smiled. It looked as though she finally had a date to the ball. Even if she didn't know who it was.

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><p><strong>AN: From now on I'll be writing my author's notes at the end of the chapter, partly so that you guys can reach the story faster, and partly so that I can mention things that happened.**

**So who do you think her secret admirer is? I'd love to hear what you all think, whether about this chapter or the previous ones. I might even update tomorrow if I get any reviews...**

**And I'm sorry that this chapter's so ****short! Chapter 8 will be longer, I promise. Especially since that chapter includes the ball :-)**


	8. The masquerade ball

Rose slipped her blue and silver mask over her face, adjusted it, and then stepped back to view herself in the mirror. The top part of her hair had been pulled back, braided, and twisted into a bun, below which the rest of her curls hung loose. Her blue mask, streaked with silver glitter, covered the top half of her face, leaving her "captivating smile", as the letter had called it, bare. Not that it was really much use wearing a mask, she thought, because her Weasley hair would be recognisable from the other side of the Great Hall. Ah well. Her dress was tight at the top, with a high waistline from which the filmy skirt hung in elegant curves. She covered her sleeveless shoulders with a thin white scarf, slipped her feet into the blue pumps she had chosen to wear, as opposed to Susie's high heels, and declared herself ready.

Lucy asked: "How do I look?"

Rose scrutinised her from top to toe. "Just one thing wrong," she said.

"What?", Lucy anxiously inquired.

Rose grinned. "Take that worried look off your face and you'll be perfect."

Lucy laughed. "You look great, too. Shall we go down?" Emma turned from the mirror, where she'd been making a few last-minute adjustments to the starry headband she wore, and agreed.

The trio went down the steps to the common-room, where Lucy left them to go find Michael Jordan. Emma accompanied Rose down to the Entrance Hall, because Walter, being a Hufflepuff, had agreed to meet her there. She left Rose at the foot of the marble staircase and moved over towards where she could see Walter waving at her.

Rose looked around, wondering which of the boys waiting it the bottom of the stairs was her date. She didn't have long to wait. Someone tapped her on the shoulder and said: "Rose?" She spun around.

Facing her was a tall boy with light-brown hair. He was wearing black dress robes and had a mask, also black, covering the top part of his face. He held his arm out to Rose. "Shall we go in?" His voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. She nodded and put her hand on his arm.

They moved through the crowd to the Great Hall. As they walked through the doors, Rose stared. The four House tabled had vanished, and in their place small tables with chairs around them were placed round the sides. The center of the hall had been transformed into a golden dance floor. At the far, end, where the teachers usually sat, was a stage on which a wizard orchestra from London was setting up. The walls were decorated with tinsel, holly, and mistletoe. The golden, sparkly light that filled the room came from the glittery candles hanging in mid-air. When Rose looked up past them, she could see the starry expanse of sky outside mirrored on the ceiling.

Her escort drew her over to a table for two in the corner. Now that Rose looked more closely, she realized that most of the table were for four or six people, with some tables for two here and there. The room was slowly filling up with people.

Rose spotted Roxanne, with a brilliant sunflower in her dark hair, sitting at a table with her date. He looked like that sixth year in Ravenclaw. Rose couldn't quite tell, as he, like everyone else, was wearing a mask.

Once everyone was seated, Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, looked at her menu, and then said firmly to her plate: "Steak and kidney pie." It appeared. Quickly getting the idea, everyone else ordered their food and started eating.

Over her shepherd's pie, Rose eyed her date. What she could see of his face looked familiar, but she had no idea who he was. His hair colour gave no indications either, as hundreds of Hogwarts students had light-brown hair.

She broke the silence between them by asking: "When are you going to tell me your name?"

He smiled at her. "Sometime."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's helpful." He laughed in return.

When the remains of dessert had vanished, the London Philharmonic Wizarding Orchestra, which had been hired for the occasion, struck up a slow waltz. Her date held out his hand to Rose and said in tones of exaggerated politeness, although she could see his eyes twinkling merrily behind his mask: "May I have this dance?"

"With pleasure, good sir," Rose replied, smiling, and he led her out to join the other couples on the dance floor. He was quite a good dancer, Rose decided-especially compared to her cousins, who were exceptionally good at stepping on your feet. The waltz came to an end, and the orchestra started another, faster piece. They started twirling round the dance floor again, and as Rose spun through the steps she thought that she had never had so much fun in her life.

The orchestra finished playing at one a.m., and Rose sighed. Her escort looked at her. "Is anything wrong?"

Rose smiled up at him. "No. I'm just sad that this wonderful evening has to come to an end."

It had truly been a wonderful evening. She had spent most of her time dancing, although she still didn't know who she'd been dancing with. She had won the fifth-year prize for Prettiest Costume, and Emma had won Most Inventive. Roxanne had tied with another girl for the sixth and seventh year Prettiest Costume. It had been a good evening for the Weasleys (and their friends) all round.

Now Rose's date took her out into the Entrance Hall, following the crowd of people slowly heading off to bed. They stopped at the foot of the stairs. "I'll leave you here," he said, smiling down at her. "That way, you won't know which House I'm heading for. Goodnight Rose."

Rose smiled up at him again. "Goodnight. And thank you for a wonderful evening." He bent down and kissed her on the cheek, then turned and vanished behind a group of Ravenclaws going up the stairs. When she looked again, he wasn't there.

She headed up towards Gryffindor Tower. As she got ready for bed, she listened to the chatter of the other girls. She went to sleep with her hand touching her cheek, and two blue envelopes where she could see them on her bedside table.

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><p><strong>AN: Awww, isn't that a sweet ending! And do you still think you know who her secret admirer is?**

**Thank you again for the reviews I've gotten! And if any of you notice spellling or grammar mistakes, please point them out to me.**


	9. Classes

Studying and homework grew more intense as the fifth years' O.W.L.s loomed closer. Rose scarcely had any spare time on her hands, and even her Sunday chess games with Scorpius were getting difficult to squeeze in.

Rose was taking Potions, Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration, and Defence Against the Dark Arts—in short, all the O.W.L.s needed to become a Healer. She was also taking History of Magic; Ancient Runes, Astronomy, and Care of Magical Creatures, but she planned to drop them after fifth year.

They got a new Potions Professor at the beginning of April, because Professor Bletchley, much to the Slytherins' chagrin and everyone else's delight, had come down with a serious case of pneumonia and then gone away to recover. Peter Spinnet's face when their new teacher entered the dungeons for their first lesson with her was rather interesting, because it happened to be his Aunt Alicia.

She was quite a good teacher, Rose decided, and definitely much nicer than Professor Bletchley had been. Of course, Professor Bletchley had been a Slytherin, but Professor Spinnet was a Gryffindor through and through. That did make a difference.

For one thing, it meant that Tracie Bletchley, Professor Bletchley's niece and an obnoxious Slytherin to boot, actually had to work to achieve decent grades. For another, it meant that Slytherin House was left, for the time being, without a Head. The position was temporarily filled by Professor Zeller, the Defence against the Dark Arts professor.

One afternoon, the students entered to find Alicia—Professor Spinnet, Rose corrected herself—standing behind a few cauldrons filled with bubbling potions. As they took their seats, the professor smiled at them.

"Good afternoon, class. Today, I have prepared some potions for you to take a look at. You will not be attempting to brew them until next year, but I wanted to show you them beforehand." She pointed at the first of the cauldrons, in which a thick, mud-coloured potion was bubbling sluggishly. "Now, who can tell me what this one is?" Rose's hand shot into the air, quickly followed by Scorpius'. Professor Spinnet nodded at Rose. "Miss Weasley?"

"It's Polyjuice Potion," Rose stated. "If one adds a person's hair to it, the drinker will turn into a copy of that person for one hour."

"Correct. Ten points to Gryffindor." She pointed at the next, a clear shiny one. "Mr. Malfoy?" His hand had hit the air a split second before Rose's.

"The Draught of Living Death. The drinker will fall into a deep sleep, which can become a coma if the potion is not brewed properly."

"That is right. Ten points to Slytherin. And the last one?" Not surprisingly, Rose had her hand in the air first. "Miss Weasley?"

Rose looked at the potion, which had a smooth mother-of-pearl sheen. "It's Amortentia, one of the most powerful love potions ever. It cannot create true love, but it creates an obsession for whoever gave it to you. It smells different to different people, according to what attracts them most."

"Very good," said Professor Spinnet, smiling again. "Take another ten points for Gryffindor. Now class, today I want you to write an essay on these three potions, about the effects on people, when and by whom they were created, and some famous instances in which they have been used. I want you all to come up and smell the Amortentia, in order to record its effects when not actually drunk. If you would all please come forward, a few at a time."

The students walked forward by twos and threes, smelled the Amortentia, and then went back to their seats to take notes. When it was Rose's turn, she stepped up to the cauldron and sniffed.

She could smell: fresh parchment; something that smelled like the handle of her broom and the Quidditch pitch; a bright, clean smell that reminded her of snowy woods; and something else that she couldn't quite identify…a mixture of lemon and pine perhaps?

On her way back to her seat she caught a glimpse of what Scorpius had written: "The Quidditch pitch, mum's garden, roast chicken, and something flowery." Rose smiled to herself. Who would have guessed that Scorpius Malfoy, one of the smartest and most popular boys at Hogwarts, would smell his mum's garden?

Later that evening, Lucy, Emma, and Rose were discussing what it had smelled like to each of them.

"I could smell some sort of woodsy smell," Emma said. "Which is funny, because I'm not the outdoor type."

"I had a mixture of lemon and pine, I think," Rose responded. "I could also smell parchment, the Quidditch pitch, and snow, but I have no idea what the lemon and pine is."

"I could smell chocolate," Lucy put in. "And that funny smell that Uncle George's shop has. And grass."

"Speaking of Uncle George's shop," Rose said, looking excited, "have you heard? He's buying Zonko's to use as a Hogsmeade branch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. And Fred says that next year, when he's left school, he's going to work there."

"Roxy certainly won't," Lucy chuckled. "She says she's going to try to get into the Exeter Eagles as Beater. If she's lucky, she might even play for England one day. Auntie Angelina could have had a Quidditch career, but she married instead."

"Your Aunt Ginny might have gone far, too," Emma added, "but she got married as well."

"Well," Rose said determinedly, "I want to have some sort of career before I get married. Although I suppose I could be a Healer even if I did have a husband." Their conversation turned to other matters.

A few days later, Rose was walking through the Entrance Hall on her was to Herbology when she caught a whiff of the lemony-pine scent again. Turning around to see where it could be coming from, all she saw was a group of 6th year Ravenclaws going to Transfiguration and some Hufflepuffs in 3rd year. She couldn't see anyone she recognized, so she still didn't know what the scent was.

Facing forwards again, she nearly collided with a group of Slytherins coming in from the grounds, where, judging by the dirt on them, they had just finished Herbology. In avoiding them, she tripped, and would have fallen if a hand had not caught her arm.

"Thanks," she said, looking up, and realized that her rescuer was none other than Scorpius Malfoy.

"You all right?", he asked, with an odd look.

"Yes, thank you," Rose responded, and hoisting her bag higher on her shoulder went towards the greenhouses. Lucy looked at her as she came in.

"Your face is pink," she stated interestedly. "What happened?"

"I nearly fell over in front of the Slytherins," Rose answered. Lucy was about to ask more, but Professor Longbottom had started talking, and the subject was dropped.

That evening, Rose thought back to the incident. Had she really been blushing? And if so, why?

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><p><strong>AN: Yes, I know, the whole Amortentia thing is a bit cliched. But I wanted to put it in there.**

**Thank you to the lovely people who favourited this since I last updated!**

**And just because I didn't ask for reviews last time, doesn't mean I don't want any...**

**And in case any of you are interested, I've written a short ScoRose oneshot. You can find it on my profile. It was just a random idea I had that I wanted to write out. It has nothing to do with this story.**


	10. Writing back

One week in early May, Rose opened her bag to find another pale blue envelope. She realized it wasn't from a Ravenclaw, because the only classes Gryffindor shared with Ravenclaw were Astronomy and Ancient Runes, and they had had neither of those. She pulled it out and unfolded the note inside. It read:

_Dear Rose,_

_I noticed you during lunch today, laughing and talking with your friends. I wish I could be courageous enough to talk to you in person, but I'm afraid I'm a bit of a wimp when I'm not wearing my mask. Anyway, what I really wanted to tell you was that if you want to write back, you can put the letters behind the tapestry of the goblins on the 5th floor. And I also wanted to tell you how beautiful I thought you looked today._

_Your Secret Admirer_

Rose studied the note for a minute. Write back? What on earth would she say? After a bit of thinking, she pulled out a piece of parchment and her favourite quill and wrote:

_I'm not quite sure what to call you, so I'll just start right in. Thank you so much for the wonderful evening at the ball and for your letters. I really enjoy reading them. I hope you feel brave enough to tell me who you are soon, because I'm longing to know. Yours,_

_Rose_

She folded the parchment, tucked it and her letter back into her bag, and walked inside. She had been taking a well-deserved rest by the lakeside in one of her free periods. Once inside, and out of the hot sunshine, she headed for the tapestry on the 5th floor. Hurrying up a twisting staircase without looking where she was going, she bumped into someone.

"Look out," she snapped angrily. Glancing up, she realized she had crashed into Scorpius. Of all the people in the castle, did it have to be Scorpius Malfoy? Not only did she have to spend too much time with him in class as it was, but she had now bumped into him two days in a row. Wonderful. She muttered an apology and continued up the stairs.

When she reached the goblin tapestry, she glanced around to make sure no one was watching, and then tucked her reply behind one of the corners. She wondered how soon she would get an answer. She didn't have long to wait.

The very next afternoon, a nervous-looking first year, who Rose thought was a Ravenclaw, came up to her. "Er…'scuse me…are you Rose Weasley?"

"Yes." Rose smiled down at the little girl.

The first year brushed her fringe out of her eyes and said: "Um, someone asked me to give this to you." Rose took the proffered blue envelope, thanked the messenger, and went to look for a secluded spot to read it. The owlery was the best place she could think of. Sitting down on the ledge of a window, she opened the envelope and skimmed the handwriting that was fast becoming familiar to her.

_Dear Rose,_

_Thank you for writing. As to your query on what to call me, I think that from now on I'll sign as S, short for Secret. You can address me by the same._

Rose smiled at his funny, old-fashioned way of writing. Perhaps that was a clue as to who he was? Or maybe it was just put on to mislead her. She returned to her reading.

_I'm glad you enjoyed the ball. I certainly did. And I'm afraid you're going to have to wait to find out who I am. I will tell you eventually. Just not yet. I have a request to make. In your next letter, would you be willing to include a picture of you? I want to be able to see your sweet face anytime. Please do. Yours,_

_S_

Rose tucked the letter inside one of her pockets. She checked the time, and realized that if she didn't hurry, she would be late for Potions. As she hurried down the steps of the Owlery, she slipped. She managed to catch herself, but the blue envelope slipped out of her pocket and wafted down to the ground below. She made her way down, slightly more carefully this time, to pick it up, but someone else reached it first.

A hand picked it up and handed it to her, and a familiar voice said: "You dropped this."

As Rose accepted the envelope, she glanced up to see Scorpius with a funny look on his face. It had a softness that she had never seen before, but there was a hint of triumph or success as well. She barely had time to register it, however, because it vanished almost as soon as she saw it.

"See you at Potions?", he asked, in his usual arrogant voice.

"Er…yes…I suppose so," Rose stammered, still wondering if she had imagined the tenderness in his bright blue eyes. She had never noticed how blue they were. She stood there, staring into them, until a shout from behind her broke the spell.

Startled, she turned around, to see Lucy coming towards her. "There you are! I wondered where you'd got to. Come on, we're going to be late." Lucy looked closer at her friend. "You're blushing again. Why?"

Rose put a hand up to her hot cheeks. "Am—am I? I'm just—a bit hot. I was—hurrying," Rose stuttered. She followed Lucy along the corridors, thankful that no more had been said on the subject.

That evening, Rose chose a secluded corner of the common-room, and sat down to compose her reply. After considering for a bit, she wrote:

_Dear S,_

_How long have I still got to wait before you tell me who you are? It's not like it would be that difficult. Just sign with your proper name next time. Come on, please tell me…_

_And I'm not going to give you a picture unless you give me some information about yourself. So if you want one, you'll have to pay for it. Yours,_

_Rose _

Rose had about ten minutes before curfew. Luckily, the goblin tapestry was only a short distance away, if you knew about certain secret passageways.

Well, maybe not quite so secret, since the whole Weasley-Potter family knew about them after James snuck that map out of Uncle Harry's drawer a few years ago…Rose chuckled. It was next to impossible to keep any sort of secret from the Weasley clan. It had only taken them a few weeks to find out what James was being so secretive about.

Rose had reached this point in her musings when she arrived at the tapestry. Tucking the note behind a corner, she headed back towards the common-room, slipping inside just before curfew. She went up to bed, wondering just what kind of note she would receive in the next few days.

It was on her way to her first lesson of the next day that she found the reply. Whoever it was from must have slipped it into her bag during breakfast, she reasoned. During morning break she found a quiet place in the courtyard and sat down to read it.

_Dear Rose,_

_You do drive a hard bargain. But if I have to give you information to get a picture, then so be it. Let's see what I can tell you without giving myself away entirely…_

_I like Quidditch. I support the Hebrides Hurricanes. Someday I'm hoping to become a Healer. I enjoy classical music and folk. I love going for walks in the woods. My ten year old sister will be starting Hogwarts next year. I will tell you who I am before next Christmas. Hopefully you haven't guessed yet. Yours,_

_S_

He'd tell her who he was before next Christmas? Gee, that was helpful, as it was only May. And the information, while interesting, didn't give her enough clues as to who he was. But it was rather interesting that he, like her, was hoping to become a Healer.

After lunch, she hurried up to her dorm to write her response.

_Dear S,_

_Here's your picture. Thank you for the stuff you told me. And I may as well mention that the Hebrides Hurricanes were totally thrashed by the Aberdeen Arrows last season. Yours,_

_Rose_

_P.S.: Isn't it funny that we both hope to be Healers and we both support Scottish Quidditch teams?_

_R_

She hunted through her drawer to find a suitable picture to include. Finally she came across one that had been taken during the Christmas holidays.

It showed her, alone for once, standing among the trees surrounding the Quidditch pitch at The Burrow. She was wearing a dark-green coat, and jeans, along with a bright blue scarf. Her bare head had some snowflakes, still unmelted, caught in her auburn curls.

Rose looked at her smiling, pictured face for a moment, and then tucked it inside the envelope. Yes, that one would do nicely. She only hoped her secret admirer would think the same.

Judging by the enthusiastic thank you note she received a few days later, he certainly did.

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><p><strong>AN: As you can see, here's Chapter 10. I hope you liked it! Sorry it took me so long to get it out.**

**Updates from now on will be slightly farther apart, because I only have part of Chapter 11 typed onto the computer so I need to type some more before I can update. I'm writing the story itself in a notebook, and I only have up to the middle of Chapter 15 written, so when I've caught up with myself it will take me even longer to update.**

**Also, to those of you who have read my oneshot and want me to continue it, I will say that there is a possibility of my doing so, but not until I've finished writing this story.**

**And, last but most certainly not least, thank you again for all your reviews!**

**Edit: I changed this slightly, as I decided that Scorpius has more than one sibling. Sorry for any confusion! **_06/08_


	11. The Quidditch Cup

The correspondence between Rose and her secret admirer was pretty regular after that. Scarcely a day went by that she did not either receive or write a letter.

Slowly the end of the school year drew near—and with it, O.W.L.s and the final Quidditch game of the season. Gryffindor and Slytherin were tied in first place. The upcoming match between them would decide who won the Cup.

As for the exams, the stress level among the students was rising.

Sarah Cauldwell, a Hufflepuff in their year, had to be given a Calming Draught by the school nurse, Madam Pomfrey, when she broke down in the middle of a Charms lesson, crying that she was too stupid to remember it all, and could they just send her home at once.

Emma had a fight with Walter Madley, with whom she had been tentatively going out since the ball.

Molly and Lucy weren't speaking to each other, because of some silly disagreement.

Rose even had a fight with Scorpius, their first major quarrel since that argument in first year. Rose couldn't even remember what they fought about.

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><p>The fast-approaching Quidditch match proved a welcome diversion from all the hard work. Training was more intense then ever. At their last practice before the match, Roxanne had them flying for two and a half hours.<p>

Finally the day of the game dawned. It was a bright, clear, sunny morning.

When Rose went down to breakfast, she realized she couldn't eat anything, which was rather unusual as she normally had an enormous appetite, inherited from her father. Looking up and down the table, she noticed that most of her fellow team members were eating as little as she was. Only Fred, Roxy's twin, had a plate full of food. Even James's usually plentiful appetite seemed to have deserted him.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could (which wasn't a whole lot), the team headed down to the changing rooms. When they were all ready, Roxy gathered them around her.

"Ok guys," she said, her brown eyes sparkling determinedly, "we can do this. We've got three wonderful Chasers," she pointed at Rose, James, and Mark Wood, who had joined in 3rd year, "an excellent Keeper," she motioned towards Peter, who had been Keeper for the past four years, "a marvellous Seeker," Al had joined the team last year, "oh, and me and Fred."

"Who are splendid Beaters," James added. Fred grinned. Roxy looked a bit flustered; she had never been good at receiving compliments.

"Yes…well…my point is, we have a really good team, we've been playing together for two years, and now is our chance to totally thrash Slytherin. And it's my last chance for the Quidditch cup, because Fred and I graduate this year. So we're going to go out there, play, and win. Got it?" Everyone nodded. Then they walked out onto the pitch.

Madam Hooch ordered the captains to shake hands. Judging by the look on Roxy's face, she was doing her best to not get her hand crushed by Martin Flint, the Slytherin captain.

"Mount your brooms," Madam Hooch said. Then the whistle blew, and fourteen brooms rose into the air.

"And the Quaffle is taken by James Potter of Gryffindor," came Michael Jordan's voice from the commentator's stand below. "He speeds down the pitch—nearly gets cornered—back-passes to Wood and Wood's away."

Rose hovered near the Slytherin end of the pitch. Mark came closer. She swooped down to him, snatched the Quaffle as he threw it neatly over Scorpius' head, avoided a Bludger, and sped in the direction of the goalposts. She flew at the left, feinted towards the right, and threw it hard ahead of her. The bright red ball soared straight through the Keeper's outstretched arms.

"And Gryffindor scores!" The red-and-gold sections of the stands below cheered. "10-nil to Gryffindor. Now Goyle grabs the Quaffle, passes to Nott, Nott flies down—ooh, nice interception there from Potter. Potter passes to Weasley and Weasley gets going."

Rose accelerated, narrowly missed another Bludger, and reverse-passed back to James, who took off.

"Potter dodges Goyle, dodges a Bludger, passes to Wood, who flies off as if there were a Dementor after him. He aims, shoots…Gryffindor score!"

The score was now 20-0 to Gryffindor, and the Slytherins did not seem happy with this. Howard Nott crashed into James, and in retaliation, Fred threw his Beater's bat at him. Madam Hooch awarded penalties to both teams. Peter did a marvellous save, and James just barely got past Flint, so Gryffindor were leading 30-0. Because of that, Jean Bulstrode hit Peter in the head with her bat, for which Madam Hooch awarded Gryffindor another penalty. Rose got it in, and the game went on.

It was rapidly becoming one of the nastiest games Rose had played. The Slytherins were not happy with the way the game was going, and were doing their best to stop the Gryffindors winning. They had apparently decided that they were going to win the Cup, by fair means or foul.

By the end of an hour, Slytherin had scored twice, and Gryffindor had scored three more times, bringing the score up to 70-20 in Gryffindor's favour.

Scorpius was the only member on the Slytherin team who had not yet fouled anyone, and Rose, Al, and Roxy were the only Gryffindors still playing fairly.

"Malfoy takes the Quaffle, speeds down the pitch, he's going to sco—nope, stopped by a well-placed Bludger from Roxanne Weasley and the game goes on. Malfoy drops the Quaffle, Weasley catches it, and zooms away. It looks as if she—Merlin, was that the Snitch?"

Rose's head spun around. Sure enough, Al was racing with Russell Higgs, the Slytherin Seeker, towards a spot on the ground far below, where a small golden ball was fluttering.

She hovered, watching, not even noticing as Scorpius took the Quaffle from her and flew towards the Gryffindor hoops. He scored three times without being stopped, as everyone was watching the Seekers. They had nearly reached the Snitch and were flying evenly, both trying to get ahead of the other.

"Come on, Al," Rose whispered.

Albus reached out for it, missed, flew closer, tried again—and rose from his dive with the tiny golden ball clutched firmly in his fingers.

The stands were silent for a moment, then the cheering and yelling began, the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs joining in.

"Al Potter has caught the Snitch!", Michael bellowed over the noise. "Gryffindor win 220 to 50!"

The next half-hour was a bit of a blur to Rose—one moment she was circling in the sir, watching the race for the Snitch, and then Al had caught it. They were all soaring towards the ground. Roxy was running to them waving her broom in the air shouting: "We won! We won!" Everyone was hugging each other all at once. They were presented with the Quidditch Cup for the third year in a row. The noise from the crowd was terrific.

After they emerged from the changing rooms again, each team member was hoisted to someone's shoulders and they were carried in triumph back towards the castle. The celebratory party afterwards lasted late into the night.

Fred and James, having both inherited more than a few of their namesakes' tendencies to disregard the rules, had snuck out and returned with Butterbeer and various snacks from the kitchens.

The common-room was packed. Not only Gryffindors were there. Rose saw some Hufflepuffs and a few Ravenclaws—but not a single Slytherin. After all, they had just lost to Gryffindor for the third year in a row.

Rose's prefect instincts kept telling her to send everyone to bed as it was long after midnight, but she firmly suppressed them. People needed a break from the stress of exams, and if they didn't relax they would probably all have nervous breakdowns the week before O.W.L.s. So she relaxed and enjoyed the fun.

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><p><strong>AN: Chapter 10 was the only chapter I wrote like ****that. All the other chapters will be normal.**

**Chapter 12 is the last 5th year chapter, then Chapter 13 will be the start of 6th year.**

**And thank you again for the reviews I've gotten!**


	12. OWLs

Suddenly the exams were three weeks away—then two weeks—then it was the week before O.W.L.s.

Everywhere you went, you could see students revising, casting last-minute glances over their notes, frantically trying to commit facts and spells to memory, and generally trying to cram five years of study into a few days.

The first day of the examinations dawned. It was a bright, sunny morning, but all Rose could think about as she went down to breakfast was the precise incantation for a Cheering Charm and whether or not she had the wand movements right. As they walked into the Great Hall, Emma let out a squeal and clutched at Rose's arm, pointing.

"Is—is that them? The examiners?"

"I think so," Rose said, looking over to where a couple of elderly witches and wizards were standing at the High Table, talking to Professor McGonagall. They looked friendly, Rose thought. But she was still nervous.

Breakfast was soon over, and then the fifth and seventh years waited around in the Entrance Hall before being called back in. Desks were arranged in rows, just as her mother had described to her. They quickly found their seats, which had been alphabetically arranged; this meant that while Emma was up at the front of the hall, Lucy and Rose were seated next to each other, with Fred, Molly, and Roxy, who were taking their N.E.W.T.s, on either side of them. Al was a few rows ahead of them.

When everyone was seated, Professor McGonagall told them to begin. There was a rustle as everyone turned their papers over, and their first exam, Theory of Charms, began. It luckily wasn't quite as difficult as Rose had feared.

After lunch, they had their practical charms exam. They were called in alphabetically; when Rose heard "Creevey, Emma; Davies, Samantha; Dobbs, Anthony; Finch-Fletchley, Mary" she wished her friend good luck and watched her proceed through the doors with increasing nervousness. When they were nearly through, she heard: "Weasley, Rose; Whitby, Anne; Wood, Mark; Zabini, Leora." Glancing around, she realized they were the only four left. Feeling jittery, she went through the doors and was assigned an examiner. Everything went well.

After hurrying through dinner, all the exam students rushed back to their common-rooms to look over their Transfiguration notes for the next day.

On Tuesday morning they had their theoretical exam, then their practical one in the afternoon. Rose thought it went reasonably well, except for a moment where she managed to turn her mouse purple instead of Vanishing it. On Wednesday they had Herbology; it had never been Rose's best subject, but she got through it with nothing more than a cut from an overenthusiastic Tickling Thornbush.

Defence Against the Dark Arts, on Thursday, was fine, except that she had a nagging feeling that she had forgotten something. Comparing with Emma and Lucy later on, she realized she had somehow managed to leave out half the information on Grindylows. Hopefully that was all she had missed out on.

On Friday morning she sat her Ancient Runes exam. Reviewing it afterwards, she calculated that she would probably at least get an E. Friday afternoon and Sunday were spent revising for Potions on Monday, but Saturday everyone relaxed and caught up on much needed sleep.

Potions was easier than Rose had expected; having Professor Spinnet instead of Professor Bletchley seemed to have made a difference. She might even have scraped an O.

Tuesday they had Care of Magical Creatures. It wasn't her favourite subject—in fact, you could go so far as to say it was her least favourite—but she didn't get anything worse than a bite from a Niffler. On Wednesday they had their Astronomy exam; the theoretical one in the morning, and then the practical one at midnight. It passed without incident.

Rose remembered the stories her parents had told about their O.W.L.s; it was a bit funny, really, because her dad told her all about the time her uncle's friend Lee Jordan Levitated Nifflers into the Headmistress' office, whereas her mum was more likely to talk about that awful feeling she had had when she realizes she had mistranslated a Rune. But then, there was the difference between Mum and Dad for you—Dad would tell you about the funny or exciting bits, and Mum would give you the academic side of the story. Rose thought she was a pretty good combination of the two—she could see the funny moments, but was good at analyzing too.

Her last O.W.L. was History of Magic on Thursday (Rose didn't take Arithmancy or Muggle Studies, and Divination no longer existed). Two hours of answering questions about goblin rebellions and laws created centuries ago and then she was done.

On Friday morning, Rose noticed the Arithmancy students going in to take their exam. "Hey, Scorpius," she called.

"What?"

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

That afternoon, during lunch, Fred said: "Rose?"

"Yes?"

"Why were you talking to Malfoy?"

"Sorry?"

"You were talking to Malfoy earlier."

"Oh, that. I just said good luck."

"I didn't think you were that close with him," Fred remarked, looking at Rose speculatively.

"We're not really. We're just—sort of—friends." Lucy raised her eyebrows at Rose, but didn't say anything else.

That afternoon was the last exam, and then everyone was done. As Rose remarked to Emma during dinner: "Now that we've finished our O.W.L.s, we can sit around for half the summer doing nothing, while frantically waiting for our results."

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><p>The term quickly drew to an end. Suddenly, it was the last day; their trunks were packed, they had finished breakfast, the notes reminding them not to use magic over the holidays were handed out, then they were rumbling down to the station in the carriages, laughing and talking as the train left Hogsmeade station, playing games of Exploding Snap with the whole Weasley clan crammed into one compartment as they sped past Muggle cities, changing into their Muggle as they drew nearer to London.<p>

They arrived at Platform 9 ¾ and there was excessive amount of hugs and welcomes from the various aunts and uncles. When Rose had finally extracted herself from the crowd of relatives, she ran over to where Emma and her brother Colin, who had just finished his 3rd year, were being greeted by their parents.

Rose gave Emma a hug. "See you in September," she said. "And I hope you enjoy yourself in—where are you going again?"

Emma laughed. "You're so forgetful sometimes. We're going to Venice this year." The Creeveys travelled a lot. "Write to me, okay?"

Rose grinned. "Try and stop me owling my best friend. And you never know, I night even be able to convince Lucy to send you a line or two this summer, even though she hates writing letters. I think she'd rather Floo."

Just then, a call came from behind them. "Rose! Time to go!" She glanced over her shoulder to where her father was waiting impatiently, gave Emma another quick hug and dashed back to her lingering family.

They emerged from King's Cross station into a blaze of sunshine. Rose smiled. Summer was one of her favourite times of the year, and this one promised to be just as full of family and fun as the sixteen previous summers of her life had been.

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><p><strong>AN: I'm not very happy with this chapter. It wasn't coming out right, and then even when I added a bit of Scorpius/Rose interaction it still felt wrong. It's mainly just a filler chapter anyway, because I felt that I couldn't really leave out O.W.L.s.**

**Next chapter: 6th year!**

**I probably won't be updating over the next week or so, unless I can manage to update tomorrow, because I've got a pretty busy schedule. Thanks again for your reviews/favouriting/alerting!**


	13. Start of term

**A/N: Hi everybody, sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've had a lot of stuff going on lately, and couldn't find time.**

**This chapter is the start of 6th year. I hope it's more interesting than the last one was.**

**P.S.: Reviews will make me update faster! ;-)**

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><p>Their exam results arrived the second week in July. Rose had gotten Os in Charms, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, and History of Magic. She scored Es in Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology, which didn't really surprise her, as they were her worst subjects. But her Outstanding in D.A.D.A. was the grade over which everyone exclaimed most, as that was the only class her mother had ever gotten an Exceeds Expectations in.<p>

The holidays sped by, and soon it was time to go back to school. There would be some changes this year, Rose thought. Molly, Fred, and Roxanne had now left school. Her cousin Louis had been made Head Boy. And with Fred and Roxy leaving, they needed a new Quidditch Captain and two new Beaters.

On the Hogwarts Express, Rose, Emma, and Lucy discussed the changes. They only paused their conversation when the trolley came by. The gossip and catching up lasted until sunset.

During a lull in their chatter, Lucy suddenly sat up excitedly from where she had been leaning against the window. "Have you heard?", she asked enthusiastically.

"Heard what?", Rose responded.

"Teddy and Victoire are—"

"Engaged?", Rose broke in. "Finally! They've been dating since before we started Hogwarts."

"When did you hear?", Emma avidly enquired.

"Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur were at our house for dinner last week," Lucy said. "Ted, Vic, Dom, and Louis came too. They announced it after dessert."

"Oh, you've seen Dom?", Rose asked interestedly. Dominique was now twenty and in her 3rd year of internship at the Daily Prophet. Her job as foreign correspondent took her far and wide, so the family didn't get to see her very often.

"More than saw," Lucy grinned wickedly, "she had a few days off and spent them at our place."

"Why didn't she come see us?", Rose mourned.

"Because that was the weekend you spent at Aunt Ginny's."

"Oh. Right." Rose had a very close friendship with her Aunt Ginny, but all the same, she wished she could have seen Dom. Ah well.

Soon they were pulling in at Hogsmeade station. Rose, Emma, and Lucy joined Albus in a carriage up to the castle. They followed the crowd into the Entrance Hall. The Sorting Hat's song this year was quite good, but Rose was so tired and hungry that her brain barely registered it. The Sorting began.

Rose thought hungrily about roast chicken and mashed potatoes, hardly listening. Suddenly a familiar name jerked her out of her thoughts.

"Malfoy, Stella!"

Rose's head flew up. Did Scorpius Malfoy have a younger sister? She studied the girl who was walking up to the stool and sitting down to be Sorted. She didn't look anything like Scorpius—she had long brown hair and a creamy skin.

The rip on the Hat's brim opened, and it said, in a quieter voice than usual: "Gryffindor!"

The hall was silent for a moment; then as Stella came to sit at the Gryffindor table, some people half-heartedly started clapping. Rose was wide awake now. She looked over to the Slytherin table, where Scorpius was looking a bit shocked. Most of the people in the hall looked the same. And no wonder—who had ever heard of a Malfoy being in Gryffindor?

Then as Professor Ffloyd called out: "Manson, James!" everyone's attention was drawn back to the Sorting. By the time "Zoan, Cassandra!" had been Sorted into Ravenclaw, Rose was hungrier than she had ever been. Finally the feast appeared on the table.

When the remains had vanished, Professor McGonagall stood up.

"To our new students, welcome; to our old ones, welcome back," she said, smiling down at them. "Before you all rush off to bed, I have a few beginning-of-term announcements. First years should be aware that the Forbidden Forest is—well—forbidden. Some of our older students," she added, casting a look at James, "would do well to remember the same. The Yule Ball this year will be taking place at Durmstrang. All students wishing to attend must give their names to their Heads of Houses by November 15th. Information as to what we shall be doing here at Hogwarts will be forthcoming after the first Prefects' meeting. And lastly, Professor Bletchley is not coming back. Professor Spinnet will remain as our Potions Professor, and Professor Zeller is now Head of Slytherin. Now, bedtime for everyone. Good night!"

As the students started to move out of the hall, Rose joined Al in calling: "First years, follow me! Gryffindor first years, this way!" They led the group of first years up through all the passages and staircases to Gryffindor Tower.

"Password?", the Fat Lady enquired. Rose said "Sugar Quills" and the portrait swung forward.

When they were inside the cosy Gryffindor common-room, Rose showed the girls where to go, while Al did the same for the boys. Rose couldn't help glancing interestedly at Stella Malfoy, wondering what she was like. Once the first years had been safely installed in their dormitories, Rose headed back down the stairs to join Emma and Lucy on their favourite sofa in front of the fire, where they spent most of their time when in the common-room. They were shortly joined by James, Albus, Lily, and Hugo. Louis, having been made Head Boy, was the only Weasley not there.

At one point during the evening, when (for a change) no one happened to be talking, Lucy said casually from her seat between Emma and Rose: "You're Quidditch Captain this year, right James?"

James looked up from where he was sprawled on the rug. "Yes," he said. "Why?"

"You're going to need some new Beaters, aren't you?"

James sat up. "Come on, Lu, spit it out. Don't dither around like that."

"Well," Lucy said, her gaze firmly fixed on the flickering fire, "I was, um, thinking of, er, trying out. For Beater."

There was silence for a moment. Then everyone started exclaiming at once.

"Seriously? Beater?"

"That would be so cool, having you on the Quidditch team too!"

"I never knew you liked Quidditch. Uncle Percy doesn't."

"You'll definitely have stiff competition."

"Yeah, but she's got good aim as well. I think she could make it."

"If you join the team as well, I'll get to be all by my lonely self during Quidditch practice."

When James, Rose, Lily, Hugo, Al, and Emma had finished exclaiming, Lucy looked around the circle, blushing slightly.

"So you guys think it's a good idea?" A chorus of affirmation was her response.

When they had all quieted down again, James said: "So who else do you think will try out as Beater?"

Peter Spinnet, who had heard the last part of their conversation, moved from his seat by the window to say: "Actually, I was thinking of going for Beater this year. I'm getting a bit tired of Keeping." They all stared at him open-mouthed.

"But—if you try out for Beater—we're going to have to find another Keeper," James said.

Hugo spoke up. "I heard Louis saying that if we didn't have such a good Keeper already, he wouldn't mind trying out for it."

"If Louis were Keeper," Lily remarked, "and Lu makes Beater, then there will only be two people on the team who aren't Weasleys—Mark, and Peter."

"What about me and James?", Al interjected indignantly. "We're not Weasleys."

"No, but you're part of the family. My point is, to the rest of the school, it might look like favouritism."

"Oh, come off it, Lil," James said lazily. "If you want, I'm sure Louis or Rose or Al would be happy to give you detention. Then they can't be accused of favouritism."

"Shut up, James, you aren't funny," Lily retorted, but she smiled anyway.

The conversation degenerated into teasing banter after that. It was midnight by the time they had all drifted off to bed. As Rose sank into the warmth of her pillow, she wondered sleepily what new things would happen at Hogwarts this year.


	14. Conflicts and confessions

**A/N: Wow, look at that. Two updates in as many days without me even getting any reviews on the last chapter yet! I had a lot of free time today, so I figured I might as well update.**

**This is one of the chapters that I've been looking forward to writing since beginning this story, so I hope you guys like it! Although I think the chapter that will be coming next is more important...**

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><p>The first prefects' meeting of the new school year took place on Friday. After the patrol schedules had been passed out and all the routine things had been discussed, Barbara Abbott, the Head Girl, stood up.<p>

"One more thing before we conclude the meeting," she announced. "Professor McGonagall asked me to tell the prefects—in strictest confidence, I might add; for now, only the prefects are to know of it—that the Room of Requirement was repaired, tested, and declared capable of operating over the summer holidays."

Everyone started talking at once. Most of them had heard about the Room of Requirement from their parents. Those who hadn't were asking what it was.

After five minutes of chatter, Louis stood up. "Alright everybody, that's enough," he said quietly but firmly. "Any ideas as to what we should do for Christmas will be considered next time, as it is getting late. The meeting is adjourned."

The prefects streamed out into the corridor, quietly discussing the latest developments. Rose found herself heading back to Gryffindor Tower with Al and Annie Wood, Mark's older sister and the seventh year Gryffindor prefect.

"I expect you've heard all about the Room of Requirement from your parents," Annie said. "Dad told Mark and me some stuff about it, but since he never experienced it first-hand, we never really knew much."

Al immediately launched into an explanation of the Defence Association that had been created in his dad's fifth year and how they had used the Room of Requirement. It lasted until they parted company at the stairs to the dormitories.

"Good night, Al," Rose said forcibly, nudging him towards the boys' dorm.

"Good night, Rose. Oh, Annie, did you know that…"

Rose broke in. "That it's past ten and we have classes tomorrow? We need to go to bed—you especially, because you always talk a lot when you're tired. Good night." Al glared at her, but he went up the stairs to his dormitory quietly.

Rose said good night to Annie at the door to the sixth year girls' dorm, and slipped in silently so as not to wake her dorm mates. She crept into bed and fell asleep, determined to try out the Room of Requirement at the next opportunity.

But opportunities were practically nonexistent over the next few weeks. The sixth years were now starting their N.E.W.T.-level classes, and the work was harder than ever.

Judging by the contents of the blue envelope as school owl delivered to her, her admirer was also a sixth year. But it wasn't that fact that made Rose suddenly feel nervous and excited all at once.

_Dear Rose,_

_I can't tell you how glad I was when I saw you in the Great Hall at the beginning of term. But I was slightly nervous, too, because of what I'm planning. Next week is the first Hogsmeade weekend. If you go up to the hill behind the Shrieking Shack at 2:30, I'll meet you there and you'll find out who I am. Do you want to? Yours,_

_S_

_P.S.: I'm sorry I took so long to write to you. The increased workload, now that I've finished my O.W.L.s, makes free time a rare thing._

_S_

Rose scribbled off a reply, full of enthusiasm, and went to slide it behind the tapestry.

On her was back to Gryffindor Tower, she pulled aside a wall hanging that was hiding a spiral staircase to find Emma standing there, clutching the banister and looking very flustered.

"Er…hi Rose," she stammered.

"Hi Emma. You're all red. What happened?", Rose asked inquisitively.

"I was—going down the steps too fast and I—slipped, but I managed to catch myself," Emma muttered, not meeting Rose's eyes.

"Oh." Rose said nothing further, but she did give Emma a thoughtful glance as they walked along the corridor.

"Hey Em," Rose finally said, breaking the silence between them, "I need your help next Saturday."

"With what?"

"I, um, need you to be willing to be on your own in Hogsmeade for a bit."

"Why?" Rose told her.

When she had finished, Emma said: "So, basically, you want me to be a decoy?"

"Er, yes," Rose admitted. "Do you mind?"

"No. But how are we going to shake off Lucy?"

"It's her birthday next week, you know. Have you already got her something? Good. Then when she asks where we're going, we can just mention her birthday, and she'll think we've gone to buy her presents." Rose beamed at Emma. "See?"

"If you think it'll work, then I'm in," Emma said cheerfully. "I had something I wanted to do this Saturday anyway."

Rose glanced at her friend, but refrained from commenting. They rarely kept secrets from each other, and she knew that Emma would tell her sooner or later.

The week sped by.

On Saturday morning, Rose, Emma, and Lucy headed into Hogsmeade, where they paid a visit to the new branch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes before heading towards the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer.

They were busy talking about Fred's debut in his father's shop when Al, his Ravenclaw girlfriend Maria Stevens, and Michael Jordan, the Quidditch commentator, joined them. Rose noted the faint blush on Lucy's cheeks as Michael sat down next to her.

"Looks like we've got another talk coming up," she muttered, nodding in Lucy's direction. "It's quarter past two. Ready to go?" Emma nodded and the two of them stood up.

"Where are you going?." Lucy asked, confused.

"Ask no questions and you'll be told no lies," Rose said mysteriously. As she headed for the door, she added with a wink: "It's your birthday next Friday, Lu."

Lucy subsided, and Rose and Emma walked up the main street, talking. When they reached the outskirts of Hogsmeade, Rose said goodbye to Emma and continued on to the Shrieking Shack.

Her heart beat faster as she hurried up the road. She was feeling excited—and yet, at the same time, slightly nervous as well. She was finally going to meet her secret admirer. Wondering who he could be, she quickened her pace.

As she neared the Shrieking Shack, she saw a figure standing there, leaning on the fence and gazing out over the countryside. When she was only a few meters from him, he turned around. She saw who he was, and froze.

Scorpius Malfoy.

"Rose—", he started, taking a step towards her. She turned, and ran.

It couldn't be! There must have been some mistake. She threw a quick glance over her shoulder. The look on Scorpius' face was the last thing she saw before she slipped and fell. The world went black.

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><p><strong>AN: So what do you guys think? I'm guessing that none of you were surprised at who it was. :-)**

**Reviews will make me update faster...**

**(And so will having a lot of free time. Thank you Mommy! I love having the house to myself.)**


	15. Confusion

**A/N: Hi everyone, sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've been a bit busy lately.**

**I hope you guys like this chapter.**

**I've only written about two thirds of the way through Chapter 17, so after Chapter 16 has been published it will take me longer to upload because then I'll have to write it first.**

**And, lastly, I think there are about 50 people reading this. Would it be too much to ask for six reviews on this chapter? That would mean there'd be twenty five reviews. :-)**

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><p>Rose opened her eyes. Judging by the crisp white sheets she was lying between and the walls around her, she was in Hospital Wing. She turned her head, and saw Emma sitting next to her bed.<p>

"What—what happened?", Rose asked.

"You fell and hit your head," Emma answered. "Madam Pomfrey! She's awake."

Madam Pomfrey, niece of the previous school nurse, came bustling out of her office. "There, there," she said, pushing Rose back as she attempted to sit up. "You've had a nasty bump, my dear, been out of it for quite a while." She held a beaker full of potion to Rose's mouth. "Come on, now, drink up."

Rose obeyed meekly. Then she inquired again: "What happened?"

"Well," Emma replied hesitantly, "I'm not sure. It depends on whether or not you believe Malfoy."

"Why, what did he say?", Rose questioned.

"He came down into Hogsmeade from the Shrieking Shack, carrying you. You were all limp and white, and the side of your head was bleeding. He says you were running down the hill, and you fell and hit your head. Madam Pomfrey said you broke your wrist—it was at a really funny angle; you must have fallen on it—but it's mended already. It was your head she was worried about. You were unconscious for quite a while."

"What time is it?"

"Er…six o'clock."

"You mean I've been knocked out for three and a half hours?", Rose said, shocked.

"Er…" Emma faltered over the answer.

"Em," Rose said, with a growing look of horror, "what day is it?"

"It—it's Monday, Rose."

"So I've been in here for two whole days?"

"Er, yes," Emma admitted. "What really happened, Rose? I already told you what Malfoy said, but…"

"He was telling the truth," Rose said promptly. For some reason, she was feeling a bit annoyed with Emma. Why did people always have to judge other people by their last names? "I was running down the hill, slipped, and fell. That's all there is to it."

"But Malfoy seems to think it was his fault. When he was carrying you up to the castle he kept muttering about how he should have done it differently, and if it weren't for him, you'd be alright. Are you sure he didn't do anything to you?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I just—got startled by something up at the Shrieking Shack. It wasn't his fault."

"Well, you'd better tell that to James and the rest of your family," Emma said with a laugh. When he saw Malfoy holding you, and you were all pale and awful-looking, it took me and Louis to hold him back from jinxing Malfoy on the spot."

Rose smiled weakly. Now that she was fully conscious, she realized that her head hurt and her wrist still ached a bit. The pain potions Madam Pomfrey had given her helped, of course.

"Oh!", she suddenly exclaimed. "Quidditch tryouts were yesterday! How did they go?", she asked anxiously.

"Relax, Rose, or I'll get thrown out of here," Emma chuckled. "The tryouts went really well. Lucy and Peter are Beaters, and Louis is Keeper."

At that moment, the school nurse came out of her office again. "Now, then, Miss Creevey," she said firmly. "You two have been talking for twenty minutes. Miss Weasley needs her rest. Whatever else you have to say can wait." She started nudging Emma towards the door.

"See you later, Em," Rose said. "And tell James from me that he's a git." Emma smiled at Rose's joking tone, and withdrew.

Alone at last, Rose stared at the ceiling with a confused look on her face. What on Earth was she supposed to do? It had been Scorpius who had sent her all those letters. Right? Unless, of course, there had been some mistake, and Scorpius just happened to be up there. She had been early, after all. She fell asleep still puzzling over the problem.

A few days later, when she was pronounced well enough to be let out, she still had no idea what to do about it. But a certain conversation with Emma drove all thoughts of Scorpius out of her head, at least for the time being.

On Thursday afternoon, when they had a free period just after lunch, Emma pulled Rose and Lucy aside.

"Can I talk to you guys somewhere private?," she asked, looking slightly worried.

"Sure," Lucy said. Rose suggested going up to the Owlery, as from there they could see anyone coming, and accordingly they headed in that direction. When they were safely perched on a windowsill overlooking the lake, Emma began.

"You know how last year Professor Spinnet had us smell the Amortentia?" The other two nodded. "Well, I've found out who mine smells like."

"Who?"

"Er…James."

Rose and Lucy stared silently for a bit. Then Lucy said: "James? As in, our cousin?"

"Er, yes."

"When did you find out?", Rose said interestedly.

"At the party last year after we won the Quidditch Cup. Someone bumped into me in the common-room, and I fell into James. When I had stood up again, I realized that he smelled just like the outdoor scent in my Amortentia. We ended up talking for quite a bit, and it just sort of escalated from there. Er, Rose, you know when you found me on the stairs?", Emma said, blushing, with the air of someone making a difficult confession. "Well, James had just left when I heard you coming."

"What were you—no, scratch that, I think I can guess." Lucy grinned.

"And last Saturday," Emma went on, "I went and met him in Hogsmeade while Rose was—" She broke off.

"While Rose was what?", Lucy asked, turning to her cousin. Rose explained.

When she had finished, Lucy exclaimed: "So that's why he was the one who found you! And, Rose," her eyes twinkled merrily, "he kept finding excuses to come by Hospital Wing and check on you. It was funny how many times he managed to walk through that corridor on Monday, especially since all of his classes that day were at the other end of the building." She grinned at Rose. "It looks as if he was the one who wrote you the letters."

At that moment, a large barn owl came flying through the window next to them, fluttered to a halt in front of Rose, and held out its leg. The girls could clearly see a pale blue envelope attached to it.

Rose untied it with shaking fingers. What if it really was from Scorpius? What would she do then? Nervously, she opened the envelope and scanned the contents.

_Dear Rose,_

_I'm sorry I surprised you last Saturday. I should have come up with a better way of letting you know who I am. I do hope your head's alright. I truly didn't mean to scare you._

_Would you be willing to meet me down by the lake, on that little meadow behind the Quidditch pitch, tomorrow to talk? You don't have to if you'd rather not, but I'd appreciate it. Meet me there after lunch? Yours,_

_Scorpius_

Rose stared at the paper for a minute. Well, there was definitely no doubt about it now; it had been Scorpius. She had known she had seen the handwriting before. He sat next to her in D.A.D.A. Wordlessly, she handed the letter to the other two for them to read.

When they had finished, Lucy said: "Of course you'll go talk to him."

"You think I should?"

"Certainly," Emma chimed in. "At the very least, you could just tell him whether or not you want to continue corresponding."

"But that's the question," Rose replied doubtfully. "Do I?"

"You're the only one who can decide that," Lucy said. "But I will say one thing: If you do decide not to break it off, I promise I won't tell anyone. Especially not James." She grinned. "There's no knowing what he would do if he found out. He may be my cousin, but so are you. And you're my best friend as well."

"I won't mention it either, if you want," Emma offered.

"Not even to James?", Rose said teasingly.

Emma blushed, but she said determinedly: "No, Rose, not even to James. Like Lucy said, you're my best friend."

"Thanks, guys," Rose said, smiling. Then she glanced at her watch. "Oh, Merlin, I've got to go, or I'll be late for Herbology."

As they descended the steps of the Owlery, Rose smiled to herself. She wasn't sure what tomorrow would bring, but she knew that whatever happened, she would have her friends by her side.


	16. Holidays

**A/N: First of all, I'm extremely sorry for the long gap. I must warn you that I won't be able to update as quickly anymore, because I can only update as fast as I can write the chapters, but I will try to update once a week.**

**And now, really, REALLY big apologies because: I didn't write out the conversation by the lake. I tried, believe me, I did my best. But it just wasn't working smoothly, as three wadded up pieces of paper and a deleted document will tell you. So I've taken the liberty of skipping a month and attempting to cover it.**

**I hope you guys enjoy it!**

**And lastly, a big thank you to hplover143, who wrote the twentieth review!**

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><p>Rose walked across the outer courtyard, smiling to herself. She had just spent a delightful half hour down at the lakeside, talking with Scorpius. Opportunities for the two of them to spend time together were few and far between; their free time was mostly spent studying, and talking together in their shared classes was even more difficult with all the students around them.<p>

But since it was now only a week until the Christmas holidays, they had decided to leave their homework alone for once and do it over the weekend. They had met down at the lake side in the time between their Potions class and dinner. Rose had come to think of the meadow behind the Quidditch pitch as their special place—they had met there several times since that memorable conversation they had had just over a month ago.

Rose contemplated the way their friendship had advanced since then. They were definitely closer than they had been previously. And they did more together than just play chess. If they had had the time, they probably could have sat and talked for hours on end. Talking with Scorpius was rather interesting, but Rose had found out that just sitting quietly with him was also enjoyable.

Rose had kept the new closeness between herself and Scorpius a secret but all of her cousins but Lucy. For some reason, she didn't want any of them to find out just yet.

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><p>In another week, the term was over, and the Christmas holidays had started. The Weasley-Potter clan would be staying at Hogwarts—they always spent either Christmas or Easter at school and went home for the other—because they were going home for Teddy and Victoire's wedding in the Easter holidays.<p>

Rose always enjoyed spending Christmas at Hogwarts, especially now, with the added benefit of the ball to look forward to. This year it was taking the shape of a barn dance—all the Muggle-borns and most half-bloods were eagerly anticipating it, whereas most of the pure-bloods who had scarcely any knowledge of Muggle customs still weren't sure what exactly to expect.

The week before Christmas, Lily, Rose, Lucy, and Emma met up at Winston's Wizarding Wear, a robe shop that had recently opened in Hogsmeade, to find their dresses for the dance. Unfortunately, Emma's parents had wanted her home this year, so she was only there to help the others choose. While browsing through the racks, they started talking about who they were going with.

"I'm going with Roger," Lily stated. "Who are you going with, Lu?"

Lucy blushed slightly. "You'll never believe who asked me."

"Try us," Emma said, laughing.

"Michael Jordan."

"What's the big deal about that? Didn't you go with him last year?"

"Yes," Lucy acknowledged, "but last year we were just going as friends. This year…" She left the end of the sentence hanging.

"You fancy him, don't you?", Rose giggled.

"Shh, not so loud." Lucy looked around nervously. "Er, yeah."

"Hah! I knew it!", Rose said triumphantly.

"Seriously?", Emma asked.

"No, Emma," Lucy said sarcastically, "I actually fancy Shaun Pritchard, because he's so much nicer than Michael."

Emma looked confused. "But isn't he a Slytherin?"

At that point, Rose broke in. "Yes, Em, he's a Slytherin. And Lucy's a Weasley. She's pulling your leg again."

Emma chuckled. "I wonder how many more times I'm going to fall for your teasing, Lu."

"You're just so gullible sometimes," Lucy protested. "And the look on your face was awfully funny when I said I fancy Pritchard." She shuddered. "As if I would ever go out with him! He's horrible. I'm going with Michael. Who are you going with, Rose?"

Rose, after glancing around and that Lily was at the far end of the aisle, lowered her voice slightly and said: "You know who I want to go with. But the only way I can see it working is if he does what he did in fifth year, and we'll have to stay away from the family, too."

"What did he do in fifth year?", Emma inquired.

Suddenly Lily, who had come towards them while they were talking, asked: "Who are you talking about?"

"No-one," Rose answered hastily. They went back to searching for dresses.

An hour later, after they had finally decided, Lily left them to go meet up with her best friend Karen Thomas, and the three of them left the shop, headed nowhere in particular.

As they meandered through the streets crowded with Christmas shoppers, Emma asked again: "What did Scorpius do in fifth year?"

"He used a Colour-Change Charm to make his hair brown."

"But we only just started studying them this year! You mean he managed to do one last year? You aren't supposed to be able to do human transfiguration in fifth year."

"Yup." Rose beamed proudly for a moment. "I don't know why he wasn't put in Ravenclaw. He's definitely clever enough. And what's more, I think his mother was one."

"He wouldn't have made such a bad Gryffindor, either," Lucy put in. " 'Daring, nerve, and chivalry'; he's got them all."

Rose nodded in agreement and resumed their previous conversation. "And, of course, he was wearing a mask at the ball. We'll just have to hope that no-one recognizes him that is, if he ever asks me."

Emma turned around so she was walking backwards, so as to look Rose full in the face. "You mean, he hasn't even asked you yet, and you're planning what you'll do?"

"Er, I guess."

"I thought you two were just friends," Lucy said shrewdly.

Rose was saved from answering as Emma caused a diversion by bumping into someone. After she had finished apologizing and the other two had finished teasing her ("Honestly, Em! Why were you walking backwards?" "I was talking to Rose!" "But you could have at least kept an eye out for where you were walking, couldn't you?"), they went into the Three Broomsticks to get some Butterbeer.

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><p>A few days later, Rose headed down to the lake to meet Scorpius. She found him sitting on a rock at the water's edge, skipping stones. Rose picked up a flat pebble lying nearby and sent it skimming across the surface, making seven bounces to his six. He looked up, startled, not having realized that she was there.<p>

"Hey, Rose," he said, smiling.

"Hi, Scorpius," she returned, smiling back. They continued skipping stones for a bit, talking.

During a lull in their conversation, Scorpius looked over to where she was sitting next to him on the rock and asked: "Rose?"

"Yes?"

"Would you—would you like to go to the dance with me?"

Rose beamed. "Oh, Scorpius, I thought you'd never ask!" She flung her arms around him and gave him a hug.

He was surprised at first—it was the first time she'd hugged him—but after a moment he hugged her back. "I take it that's a yes, then Rose?"

She laughed. "Of course."

After another moment she pulled away and sat by his side again, not noticing the look on his face. While she had been hugging him, she had smelled a familiar scent.

Lemon and pine.

He smelled of it—and so had her Amortentia. Interesting. She pondered it silently for a bit.

Scorpius asked: "Anything wrong?"

"Hmm? No, just thinking."

"Alright."

That evening, Rose pulled Emma aside. "Em, I've found out who my Amortentia smelled like."

"Who?"

"Scorpius."

"Well, big surprise there," Emma remarked.

"Why?"

"Oh, come on, Rose." Emma rolled her eyes. "You've fancied him since…I'd say, about third year."

"I've what?"

"It's been sort of obvious."

"But how could it be 'obvious'?", Rose protested. "There's nothing of that sort between us, 'obvious' or otherwise."

Emma laughed. She pulled Rose over to a corner of the common-room and sat down. "Let's review, Rose, shall we?" She began to count on her fingers.

"First year: after you two had that fight, you were miserable for weeks. Second year: he came and watched you try out for Quidditch. He didn't watch the Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff tryouts, and he didn't really pay attention to the other Gryffindors, either. He came to watch you fly."

Rose, looking confused, opened her mouth to say something, but Emma stopped her.

"Wait. Let me finish. Third year: he put off his homework to play chess with you, and since he's as much of a workaholic as you are, I think that was kind of big. And then later on in the dormitory, when we were all talking about him, you insisted that he 'wasn't an idiot' and that spending time with him 'wasn't such a big deal'. This from the person who has determinedly avoided most Slytherins whenever possible and called them a whole lot of worse things than idiot. Fourth year: Zabini asked him out—"

Rose broke in. "Zabini asked him? How do you know?"

"I overheard them talking," Emma explained. "He only said yes because he's polite. I could tell." She continued.

"Zabini asked him out, and I could tell you got jealous. Fifth year: he sent you a letter asking you to the ball, gave you a splendid evening, and then corresponded with you over the next few months, signing as your secret admirer. And don't tell me you didn't like it. Sixth year: when you landed in Hospital Wing, he spent two days waiting for you to wake up. He only left to go to class. And you're trying to tell me," she sat back and looked at Rose, "that you two are just friends?"

"Er…"

"Exactly. And what's more," Emma added, "when did the Amortentia essay I happened to see his paper, because I handed in mine just after him. Under his list of things he smelled in the cauldron was 'something flowery'."

"I knew that," Rose put in. "I saw his list when we first started the assignment."

"Rose!" Emma frowned at her in mock exasperation. "You didn't put two and two together?"

Rose gazed blankly at Emma. "What do you mean?"

Emma sighed. Then, in the tones of one explaining something very complicated to a four-year-old, she said: "You use Uncle George's perfume, Woodland Bouquet, right?"

Rose nodded, still bewildered. Then she suddenly realized what Emma was getting at. But—that wasn't possible.

They couldn't have smelled each other in the Amortentia. Or could they?

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><p><strong>AN: Dun, dun, dun...so what do you think happens next? :-)**

**Chapter 17 is extremely long, as it is Christmas and the ball and something else which I'm not going to tell you about...reviews will make me update faster!**


	17. Christmas

**A/N: Good news, everybody. I'm back! I'm very sorry I haven't updated for over a month. I've been busy, and I was away at camp and on holiday, and this chapter wasn't working out right, either. I'm still not entirely sure about some parts of it.**

**One thing I'm not going to do, however, is apologize for the length. I've seen some authors do that (no offense meant if you've done so), but it confuses me. If you've been waiting what feels like forever for the next chapter, why would you mind that it contains more of the story then any of the others have? Anyway, this is definitely the longest chapter yet. I hope you guys like it! And I will do my best to update within the next week, but I can't promise anything.**

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><p>Rose woke up early on Christmas morning. For a moment, she didn't know why she felt so excited. Then she remembered: it was Christmas, they were at Hogwarts, and the dance was that evening.<p>

But what she was most looking forward to was a custom that had been introduced several years before: students at Hogwarts were permitted to have one guest each from outside school on Christmas Day. This year, Teddy, Victoire, and Dominique, who had managed to get some more time off, were visiting, as well as Aunts Angelina and Ginny, and (Aunt to the rest of the clan, at least,) Hermione. Best of all, especially from Hugo's point of view, Uncle Charlie had a month's vacation coming up and would be visiting Hogwarts as well. Uncle Charlie was a favourite with all the cousins, but as he was Hugo's godfather, he and Hugo were extremely close. The guests would be arriving mid-morning, and staying until the afternoon of the 27th. Rose had a feeling that this was going to be one of her best Christmases so far.

After a while, she sat up and looked at Lucy, at present the only other occupant of their dorm, who was slumbering peacefully. Rose sighed. She hated waking people abruptly, but Lucy always slept late. And on Christmas, the Weasley-Potters always woke up early to open presents together. Rose got up and went over to Lucy's bed. She shook her gently, and then harder. But Lucy didn't wake up. Rose frowned. She was going to need some help.

Twenty minutes later, Rose came tiptoeing back in, with Lily in tow. They had also crept out and enlisted the help of Mary Finch-Fletchley, a Hufflepuff who was always up for a prank and an early riser like the other two. The three girls stood on either side of Lucy's bed. Rose looked down at her cousin, still sleeping soundly, and thought that it almost seemed a pity to disturb her. But Lily was already counting down: "Three…two…one…"

On zero they jumped, Mary sitting on Lucy's legs, Lily landing on her stomach, and Rose bouncing up and down right next to her head. With an "Oof", Lucy woke up.

"Whassamatter?", she mumbled.

"Wake up, sleepyhead. Merry Christmas!", Lily said.

"Merr' Chris'mas," Lucy muttered, and would have gone back to sleep had Mary not pulled her covers off in one swift movement. Lucy groaned, and attempted to snuggle into her pillow, but Rose pulled her out of bed.

"Come on, Lu, up you get," she said cheerfully. "Hurry up and get dressed and come down to the common-room."

Rose and Lily walked back to the Hufflepuff common-room with Mary, and by the time they reached Gryffindor Tower again most of the Weasley-Potter clan that was still at Hogwarts had assembled. Rose looked around the group that was as yet the only one there.

"Where's Hugo?", she asked.

"He got a message from McGonagall about ten minutes ago," James answered. "She wanted to see him in her study. No idea why," he added, forestalling Rose's next question.

At that moment, the portrait hole swung open. Hugo clambered through, grinning broadly. "Why did McGonagall want you?", Albus, who was sitting by the fire, asked. Hugo made no reply, but merely stepped aside to reveal who had entered behind him.

They all stared for a few seconds, and then Lucy (who was by now fully awake) yelled: "Uncle Charlie!", and ran over to the grinning, red-headed man standing there. For the next few minutes, there was a babble of voices, as they all tried to talk at once.

When they had calmed down somewhat, Louis asked from his perch on the end of the couch: "When and how did you arrive?"

"About fifteen minutes ago, on the overnight express from London."

"How did you get here so early?", James inquired.

"Well, I was going to take a Portkey from Bucharest directly to Hogsmeade, which would have arrived at eleven. But then I found out that if I took a Portkey to Paris a day earlier, I could get a connection to London that would have me arrive yesterday evening. So I went to Paris, got my connection to London, and then took the overnight train to Hogsmeade from Platform 3½. And here I am." Uncle Charlie beamed at them all. "Am I in time for presents?"

"Presents?", Lucy exclaimed. "I had nearly forgotten about them." Everyone laughed at that.

The next hour or so was spent unwrapping and exclaiming over presents. Everyone had a knitted Weasley jumper; Albus, looking around at then all wearing them, joked that Grandma Molly must have started knitting them in early October. Rose also had: a jar of Colour-Change ink, three new quills, and a stationery set embossed with Austrian Blue Longwings, from Uncle Charlie; an expanding bag from Louis; a magical camera from James; an assortment of Honeydukes sweets from Albus; a resizable blue sweater from Lily; a photo album containing pictures from their years at Hogwarts from Lucy and Emma; and an Oriental-looking box that had a lock from Hugo. The pile at the end of her bed, which the house-elves had delivered during the night, yielded a broom servicing kit from Uncle Bill, a blue silk scarf from Aunt Fleur, book from Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey, a Potions kit from Molly, a sketchbook from Fred, and a journal from Roxanne.

When they had finished, everyone took everything up to their rooms and went down to the Great Hall, as it was almost time for the guests to arrive.

At about 10:20, the first few people started arriving. All over the place, students were welcoming relatives or friends. None of the Weasley's guests (except, of course, Charlie) had arrived yet. Suddenly, Rose let out a shout and ran down the steps outside, with Lily right behind her.

"Aunt Ginny!"

"Auntie Angelina!"

There was a lot of hugging and welcoming, and then Rose and Lily took their guests upstairs to deposit their bags.

Rose and Ginny headed up to the Gryffindor 6th year girls' dorm. Ginny looked around the room as they went in. "This was my dorm when I was at Hogwarts," she remarked. "Which beds are free?"

Rose pointed at the bed over by the window and the one closest to the door. "Those are mine and Lucy's. The other three are unoccupied at present."

"So none of your other dorm mates stayed over the holidays?", Ginny asked, as she swung her bag onto the bed next to Rose's.

"Nope," Rose replied. "Their parents wanted them at home this year. They all wanted to stay—especially Susie."

"Who's Susie?"

"Susie Finnegan. She sleeps over there, next to Lucy. She's kind of annoying. She's always talking about her boyfriend, and who's going out with who, and who she thinks is cute, and who fancies who, and what she did on her last date…" Rose sighed. "Honestly, she knows about the love life of most of the students here."

"Finnegan?", Ginny said thoughtfully. "That must be Seamus's daughter. I wouldn't have thought that—wait a minute. Her mother was…Lavendar Brown, wasn't she?"

"Yes, why?"

Ginny chuckled. "Ask your mother about Lavendar Brown some time. She can give you the full story. And wait until I'm nearby to ask." She changed the subject. "Who else is staying up here with us?"

"Lucy, of course, and she's got Mum visiting, and—" Suddenly the door flew open. "Dominique!", Rose finished, flinging herself at the aforementioned person and giving her a hug. "When did you get here?"

"About fifteen minutes ago," Dom answered, smiling. "I greeted everyone still waiting down below, and came up here to look for you and Lily, and drop off my stuff, because I can't exactly sleep in Albus's dorm." The tradition of guests sharing their friend's or relative's dorm had to be broken when it came to guys and girls. But luckily there was an extra bed in their dorm, and Victoire, who would have had the same problem as she was officially Louis's guest, was staying in the Head Girl's room since Barbara Abbott, the Head Girl, was at Durmstrang with most of the other seventh years. (Louis, as Head Boy, really ought to have gone too, but he had decided to stay at Hogwarts, as it would be his last Christmas there as a student.)

Dominique had just finished unpacking when Hermione and Lucy came in, and the welcomes and hugs began all over again. It was already half-past eleven when they went downstairs again.

They wandered outside to spend the hour before lunch at the lakeside. They found the others sitting in a group under the pines.

Hermione sat down on the grass with a sigh. "It's so good to be back at Hogwarts," she remarked.

"Mum," Rose asked curiously, "who was Lavendar Brown?"

Hermione turned a startled face to her daughter. "Why are you—" She caught sight of Ginny, who was doing her best to suppress as smile and not doing very well. "Ginny! You put her up to this, didn't you?", Hermione demanded, half laughing.

"No," Ginny said, in an innocent voice that fooled nobody. "We were talking about her daughter Susie, and I merely suggested that she ask you about Lavendar."

"There's not really much to tell," Hermione said, turning back to Rose again. "She was your father's first girlfriend."

"She what?" Rose stared.

"It was more sort of that Ron was one of Lavendar's many boyfriends," Ginny put in.

"She only went out with him because we won that Quidditch match," Hermione added. "But he broke up with her after a few months, and finally started going out with me a year later."

"As I recall, the beginning of that was also quite dramatic," Ginny grinned.

"Yes, well, let's not go into that now," Hermione said hastily.

The rest of the time before lunch was filled with reminiscing and do-you-remember.

During lunch, the chatter (on the girls' part, at least) was about the dance that evening. The boys, meanwhile, were hotly disputing the chances of Demelza Robins playing for England in the Quidditch World Cup next summer. The ensuing babble would have overwhelmed any normal person, but Rose was used to it. She let the various conversations drift over her, enjoying the chatter.

"So, Auntie Angelina, what are you wearing to the dance?", Lily asked.

"Of course she'll get picked! She's one of the best Chasers the Falmouth Falcons have ever seen." James thumped the table for emphasis.

"I'm wearing the dark blue dress I wore to Tante Gabrielle's wedding two years ago." Victoire cast a smile in Teddy's direction. "Remember?"

"But do you really think she's up to international standard?" Hugo spoke around a mouthful of food.

"It took me forever to decide what dress to get. I must have gone through all the shops in Diagon Alley," Dominique commented.

"Possibly, but there's some strong opposition out there, and Demelza's not getting any younger, either," Charlie remarked to Albus, who nodded in agreement.

"It took us ages to find Rose's dress, but when you see it I think you'll agree that the time was well spent," Lucy said to Hermione.

"She's gotten better year by year," Louis retorted.

"Well, Hermione and I went shopping together, and we actually found something that works with my hair that isn't blue," Ginny laughed.

Suddenly Albus turned from the Quidditch discussion. "Hello? Earth to Rose," he said, waving his hand in front of her face.

She came out of her thoughts with a start. "Sorry?"

"You were just staring off into space. Are you here?", Al grinned.

"What were you thinking about so intently?", Lily chimed in.

"Or should we say, who?", Victoire added with a mischievous grin.

"No-nobody," Rose stuttered. Victoire had always been able to read her only too easily. Lucy raised her eyebrows questioningly and motioned slightly in the direction of the Slytherin table. Rose gave a small nod. Lucy flashed a smile and changed the subject, for which Rose gave her a grateful look. Ginny noticed the exchange between the girls, but said nothing. There would be enough time to talk without being overheard later.

At the end of lunch, it was the visitors' turn to hand out and receive presents, and then everyone drifted off to their own activities. Rose and Lucy headed back up to their dorm to sort out their presents. Rose went through the pile she had deposited on her bed. Uncle George had sent the newest WWW merchandise along with Auntie Angelina, who had given her new Quidditch gloves. Mum had given her—like always—more book, mostly Muggle ones. Grandpa and Grandma Granger had also given her Muggle literature; it had been sent along with Mum, as they preferred to mail things in the Muggle manner. There was a pair of two way mirrors from Dad—Rose smiled as she put these away; she had an idea as to who she could give the other one to… She continued sorting through her presents. From Aunt Ginny she had a hat, scarf, and gloves, with the Aberdeen Arrows logo, and a Shield Cloak from Uncle Harry. Teddy, Victoire, Grandma and Grandpa Weasley had combined to give her CDs of classical music and a player for them. Rose put them on her bedside table, and turned to the next thing, a Peruvian shawl from Dominique.

As she picked up the last thing on her bed, the photo album, she heard Lucy chuckle from the other side of the room. Rose walked over and sat down on the bed next to her cousin. "What's so funny?" Lucy held out a little black notebook with "Book of Random Quotes" inscribed in gold on the cover.

"This. Honestly, Rose, it's the best present I got today."

Rose smiled. "I'm glad you like it. Which one were you laughing about?"

Lucy chuckled again. "That one. Although it wasn't really the quote I was laughing at so much as the memories it brought up."

Rose looked over her shoulder and read where Lucy was pointing at. She laughed. "We sure had a lot of fun that day, didn't we?"

"Oh, the joys of childhood," Lucy sighed nostalgically.

"Lu?" Rose looked at her. "That was last summer. Four months ago."

"Oh. Right," Lucy laughed. She turned back to the little black notebook, which was full of quotes from Rose, Emma, and Lucy. Through the years, Rose had jotted down random things they had said, and had given the whole collection of them to Lucy for Christmas. "You know what?", Lucy said, looking up again. "I think this is one of the best things I've ever gotten. It's even better than the Meteor 570 that Mum and Dad gave me last year."

"Thanks," Rose answered, smiling. She turned back to the photo album and began flipping through it.

She paused at a photo that had been taken at the beginning of their fifth year. It was a picture of the Heads and prefects. Suddenly she started. How had she not noticed that before? She was standing between Gwen Peters, a Ravenclaw in the year above her, and Albus, but it was not her own face that had caught her attention. It was the—could it be wistful?—look in Scorpius' eyes as, half hidden by two seventh years, he gazed across at Rose. Why on earth was he looking at her like that? It was almost as if he—Rose caught her breath. But—that couldn't be. She'd just told Emma that there was nothing between them! It looked as though Em had been right after all. She nearly always was.

Just then, her musings were broken by a sharp tap-tapping at the window. She looked up to see an owl, a gleaming bronze all over, sitting on the window sill. Rose leaned over and opened the window to let it in. As the owl fluttered to a halt on her bedside table, she noticed a little brown package tied to one of its legs. Rose quickly untied it, and started taking the wrappings off. Out fell a little black box and a note on pale blue paper that looked…familiar… Unfolding it, she read:

_Dear Rose,_

_Merry Christmas! I hope you like your present. I chose blue and gold because I figured it would go with anything. See you this evening! Yours,_

_Scorpius_

Rose fumbled curiously with the catch on the box. What did he mean, blue and gold would go with anything? As the lid sprang open, she gave a little gasp.

Inside were a pair of earrings, little golden balls with blue stoned shaped like raindrops hanging from them, and a necklace to match. They were beautiful.

"What's that?," Lucy asked, coming over and resting her chin on Rose's shoulder. "Wow. Where did you get them?"

"From Scorpius."

"They're wonderful. I know! You can wear them to the ball this evening. They would go perfectly with your dress," Lucy said enthusiastically.

"Speaking of my dress, Lily told me that we're all getting ready for the ball together. She said that everyone's meeting in here, as it's the largest dorm, at four o'clock, no exceptions," Rose announced.

"Wonderful," Lucy groaned. "Why do we need three hours to get ready?"

"Don't ask me," Rose shrugged. "It was all Lily's idea. Although if all eight of us are going to shower, and then all get ready in the same room, I suppose we will need a while. And if Lily's involved…"

Lucy groaned again. "It's not that I mind dressing up," she stated, "but Lily is always extremely…detailed." That was an understatement. "She took half an hour to decide which scarf to wear to the New Year's party at Grandma and Grandpa's house—and all they were doing was Flooing there!"

"She's quite fastidious when it comes to clothes," Rose agreed, "but the state of her bedroom—excluding her wardrobe—or, for that matter, her study notes—"

"I didn't know she took notes," Lucy put in.

"Exactly," Rose laughed. "My point is, she's extremely scatterbrained when it comes to anything but clothes."

At that moment, Lily herself stuck her head through the door. "Hi, girls. Not talking about me, are you?", she asked cheerfully.

"Actually, we were," Lucy said.

"Oh really?" Lily arched her eyebrows playfully. "And what about me were you discussing so intently?"

"Your tendency to take nearly as long as Victoire used to in agonizing over your outfit."

Lily chuckled. "As long as that's my only flaw." They all laughed. Then the three of them set to work straightening up the dorm in preparation.

Half an hour later, Ginny, Angelina, Hermione, Victoire, and Dominique arrived. The next three hours were a chaos of getting ready. Everyone showered and then got into their dresses, bumping against each other slightly as they did so. With that, the easy bit was over. Next they all helped each other with their hair and makeup. Even with Lily, Dominique, and Victoire all working simultaneously, it took them the best part of two hours to finish. At last they were ready.

Rose gazed around the room, studying each of their outfits. Hermione's hair was done up in a bun, with curls hanging beneath it—much the same way that Rose had done her own hair the year before. Her knee-length aquamarine dress was loose and full, cinched in at the waist with a white belt. Angelina, her long brown hair held back from her face with a scarlet band, was wearing a pale yellow dress with a scarlet belt and collar to match her headband. Ginny's golden-brown velvet dress complemented her hair perfectly. Victoire was wearing a dark blue tight-fitting dress that flared out at the hips. Her long, silvery-blonde hair, inherited from her Veela great-grandmother, cascaded down her back like a gleam of bright sunshine. Dominique's red-gold shoulder-length curls were caught back from her face with two silver butterfly clips that matched her sparkling, sequinned dress. Lily looked radiant in a filmy turquoise dress that fanned out beautifully when she spun. Lucy was wearing a simple black dress edged with gold and silver, against which her fiery red hair glowed brilliantly. Rose herself was wearing a dress they had found in a little second-hand store in one of the back streets of Hogsmeade. It had a tight-fitting waist and a full skirt, both of which were dark blue, and a lacy white blouse with puffed sleeves that was worn under the sleeveless waist. Her long red hair had been straightened and twisted into two plaits which were then crossed over the top of her head. The necklace and earrings that Scorpius had given her added the finishing touches.

"is everyone ready?", Dominique asked, breaking the momentary silence.

"Once we've all got our shoes on, we will be," Lily answered.

They all put their footwear on, and went down to the common-room. It was twenty to seven, so they had just enough time to get down to the Hall and find tables before the dance commenced.

Ginny came up to Rose. "So where's your date?", she asked.

"I'm meeting him down in the Entrance Hall."

"Then why don't we walk down together? Neville said he'd meet me there, too."

"Neville? You're going with Professor Longbottom?"

"Yup," Ginny nodded. "I certainly hope his dancing has improved since the last time we went to a ball together. I spent most of my time getting my feet stepped on." She grimaced.

"When was that?", Rose asked interestedly.

"Let me see…it was 1994, which means I was thirteen at the time. It was the year of the Triwizard Tournament, and I only went with Neville because Harry hadn't gotten around to asking me and I was afraid that if I didn't go with Neville, I wouldn't be able to go at all."

By now they had reached the Entrance Hall, and Rose, with a quick "See you later" to Ginny, slipped through the crowd to where she had agreed to meet Scorpius. He was waiting for her, his hair charmed brown as it had been the previous year. "Hi, Rose," he said, smiling. "Shall we go in and find a table?" Rose agreed and they headed into the Great Hall.

She gazed around, taking in the layout. The dance floor, in the center of the hall, was a wide, gleaming silver surface. Up where the High Table usually stood was a raised platform on which a band, consisting of a keyboard, a guitar, an accordion, and a flute, was taking its place. Holly, ivy, and tinsel bedecked the walls. A silvery light filled the room, coming, as Rose established, from the enchanted mistletoe berries that were suspended at intervals along the tables. The glow from the stars on the enchanted ceiling above them only served to add to the moonlit outdoor effect. It was beautiful.

"Isn't it amazing?", Scorpius said, voicing Rose's thoughts. "They've really outdone themselves this year."

"It's like being out in a moonlit glade in the forest," Rose said, as they made their way towards a table. The two of them sat down.

Rose pulled out her wand. "One more thing," she said, smiling.

"What?", Scorpius asked, looking puzzled.

Rose pointed her wand at her head. "_Color Mutare_!" Her hair turned a golden-brown. She chuckled at the look on Scorpius' face. "Now I won't be recognizable from the other side of the hall."

He laughed. "Your bright-red hair is rather noticeable. But I like it." Rose blushed faintly, and didn't answer.

The hall was beginning to fill up. Around them was the light chatter of the students. Dinner began.

As the last of the food was replaced by trifles, cakes, fruit tarts, puddings, jellies, and meringues, Scorpius said: "I take it you like the earrings, then."

Rose laughed. "Would I be wearing them if I didn't? And by the way, how would you know that blue goes with anything? No offense, but most boys aren't very colour-coordinated." She chuckled.

"Mum helped me choose them," Scorpius explained.

Rose, who had just put a spoonful of trifle in her mouth, choked. When she had swallowed it, she stared at Scorpius. "You told your mother? What—why—"

"I didn't tell her who they were for," Scorpius hastily assured her. "I only said they were for a friend of mine. Besides, I don't think Mum would really mind if she knew we were friends. It's Dad who might not be too happy about it."

"Same here," Rose muttered. They lapsed into silence.

When the remains of dessert had vanished, the band struck up a quick tune, and the dancing began. As Rose twirled through the steps of 'Strip the Willow', she wished that the evening would never end. But all too soon it was midnight. The band stopped playing and the professors began shooing them off to bed.

Scorpius took Rose to the foot of the main staircase. "Goodnight," he said, bending forward and dropping a light kiss on her cheek.

"Good—goodnight," Rose stammered, gazing up at him. He turned and vanished in the direction of the dungeons. Rose headed slowly up to Gryffindor Tower. On the way, she changed her hair back to its customary bright red.

"So how was your evening?", Lucy asked, with a teasing glint in her eye, as Rose entered the dormitory.

"I'll tell you about it tomorrow," Rose yawned. She got ready for bed and closed her hangings. Just before she fell asleep, she suddenly wondered what that funny look on Aunt Ginny's face at lunch had meant.

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><p><strong>AN: And if you review, the updates will probably come faster...:-)**


	18. Secrets, snow, and a skating party

**A/N: Yes, I know, it's been more than a week...**

**But in my defence I get limited computer time right now, because I can only go on in the evenings when my dad's not using it. So anyway, here's Chapter 18. I hope you guys like it!**

**And once again, if you notice any mistakes in spelling or grammar, please tell me!**

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><p>Everyone woke up late the next morning. Rose, as usual, was the first one up, but a quick glance at her watch confirmed the fact that it was hours past her normal rising time. She showered and then headed down to breakfast, where she noticed that she was one of the earliest risers in the castle.<p>

By the end of an hour, Lucy, Dom, and Hermione had all drifted downstairs to join the growing group of Weasleys. Ginny was the only one still asleep. Rose offered to go and wake her.

"Do it more gently than when you woke me yesterday," Lucy said, frowning teasingly at Rose.

"Oh, I've seen Aunt Ginny when she's angry," Rose said. "James's face is something I'll never forget."

"What did he do?", Dominique asked.

"It was the time he blew up the dining room—"

"With a bunch of fireworks," Lily put in. "He'd just come back from a visit with Fred and the two of them had been…experimenting." Everyone chuckled. "James had been trying out various pranks for the past week, and when he set off some new fireworks under the table—in the middle of lunch, mind—she got…really angry."

"I could hear her shouting at James from my bedroom two floors away," Albus said reminiscently.

Rose grinned. "Well, I'll definitely try to wake her quietly."

But there was no need for that. When she reached Gryffindor Tower, she found Ginny sitting in an armchair by a window.

"Morning, Rose," she said cheerfully, as Rose perched herself on the windowsill. "It looks like it's going to snow," she added, glancing at the leaden sky outside.

"Wonderful," Rose said enthusiastically. Next minute her face had fallen again. "Oh no. I'm guessing James will do his best to organize a snowball fight.

Ginny chuckled. "Well, it's a while yet before it snows, if Mum taught me anything about judging the weather. Care to go for a walk?"

"Alright," Rose agreed, looking slightly suspicious. There had been something too casual about Ginny's innocent tone of voice, as though she had been planning this from the start.

They headed out into the grounds. When they were safely seated on an old log at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Ginny turned to Rose.

"So what exactly is going on?"

"What do you mean?", Rose stammered, slightly thrown by the directness of the question.

"Well, last night you never told me who your date was, and I've been getting funny hints in letters from Lucy, and there was that silent conversation between the two of you at lunch. So, seeing as I'm your godmother, I decided that I wanted to know what was happening."

Rose groaned. "What kind of hints has Lucy given you?"

"Let's see…once she said that you seemed to be getting quite close to a friend of yours, and in one letter she was talking about inter-House relationships and mentioned that you, at least, didn't seem to be prejudiced against Slytherins—if I recall correctly, she actually said only certain ones—and when we were Flooing once she was talking about Emma and James and when she told me about how you two found out about it she very carefully made absolutely no mention at all of a letter you may have received at that exact moment."

"I am going to kill Lucy when I see her…", Rose muttered.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that," Ginny said brightly. "Imagine what Audrey would do to you if you killed her darling daughter." Audrey, being part Scottish, was not exactly the calmest of people when annoyed.

Rose nodded, relinquishing her idea of murdering her cousin, and settling for merely sending a glare in her direction the next time she saw her. Returning to the subject that Ginny had started, she frowned slightly.

"The trouble is, I don't know where to start."

"Well, the beginning is usually a good place."

"But the problem is, I don't exactly know which beginning to start at. I suppose you could say the whole thing started back when Al and I were in first year…"

Rose talked on for about an hour. She told her Aunt about the meeting on the train, the fight, the subsequent stubborn opposition to friendship, and then the chess game in third year. She talked to Ginny about how jealous she had been of Zabini in fourth year—something which she hadn't really admitted to herself yet. Rose explained about the ball in fifth year, the notes, the wonderful evening, and the correspondence after that. She told her about the letter at the beginning of sixth year, the meeting in Hogsmeade, her stay in Hospital Wing, the conversation by the lake, the meetings since then, and when he had asked her to the dance.

Ginny waited patiently until Rose had finished; then she said: "I've got one question, Rose. Well, two, actually. First of all, why didn't you tell me all this before?"

"I wasn't quite sure how you would take me being friends with…" She trailed off into a mutter.

"That leads me to my second question," Ginny said. "Who? So far, you've only said 'he' and 'his', you haven't actually told me who 'he' is yet."

"Er…"

"Come on, Rose, out with it", Ginny said expectantly. "It's not like I'm going to bite your head off or anything."

"No, but Dad might…", Rose mumbled. "Promise you won't tell anyone?"

"Alright." Rose took a deep breath, turned, and looked her aunt straight in the face.

"Scorpius Malfoy."

Ginny took a moment to process it. "Wait—Malfoy? As in…"

"…Draco Malfoy's son?", Rose finished. "Yup."

There was a long pause.

At last Ginny said: "I see."

"He's much nicer that you'd think," Rose said hurriedly. "He looks like his dad, but his personality is more like his mum, I think. I want you to meet him. I'm sure you'd like him if you knew him properly."

"I wonder what Ron's going to say," Ginny mused.

Rose looked terrified. "Please don't tell him."

"I promised I wouldn't tell anyone."

"I am going to tell him eventually, but not just yet. It's not like there's anything really to tell him anyway," Rose added hurriedly.

"Oh really?" Ginny thought for a few minutes. At last she said: "You fancy him, don't you, Rose?"

"What? No! Of course not! We're just friends…" Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Well…maybe I do…sort of…fancyScorpiusMalfoy," Rose finished in a rush.

Ginny chuckled. "I knew it. so the next question is, what are you going to do about it?"

Rose looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Rose, you can be so dense sometimes. I believe it's a talent you inherited from your father. But to return to the subject at hand: You fancy Scorpius. Scorpius, from what you've told me, clearly fancies you. So what are you going to do next? You can't just sit there and say oh, isn't that nice."

"What did you do when you found out Uncle Harry fancied you?", Rose asked.

"I snogged him in front of the entire common-room," Ginny said reflectively.

"I really don't think that that would be that best plan of action for me to take," Rose said in a slightly strangled voice.

"Not really," Ginny agreed. "I think you should start to slowly show him. You know, in little ways here and there."

"Will it work?", Rose asked doubtfully.

Ginny grinned. "It did for me."

The two of them headed back up to the castle, chatting as they went.

When they arrived in the Gryffindor common-room, James asked: "Where were you?"

"Oh, just out for a walk," Ginny said.

Satisfied, James returned to his letter to Fred. Hugo challenged Rose to a game of chess, and Lily and Lucy drew Ginny into their conversation about Victoire's wedding at the end of April.

Half an hour later, James looked out of the window and announced: "It's snowing!"

Lily grinned. Al groaned.

Rose looked up from her chess game to say: "I knew it!" She glanced down at the board again. "Castle to A9." Hugo looked surprised.

"What the—"

"Checkmate," Rose said, chuckling at the look on her brother's face. She turned her attention back to her cousins at the window.

James was saying: "I think we should—"

"—have a snowball fight," Lily and Albus said at the same time. Except that Lily looked enthusiastic, and Albus looked nervous.

"Great idea," Angelina chimed in. "Ginny, Dominique, Victoire, what do you think?"

Ginny and Lucy broke off their discussions about bridesmaid dresses, and agreed excitedly.

Victoire, leaning against Teddy on the sofa, asked: "Is there enough snow?"

"By the time we've sorted ourselves out, there will be," Louis said, lifting his head from his conversation with Charlie.

"Who'll be captains?", James asked.

"Charlie and Teddy," Hermione suggested. They agreed, and began choosing people. Charlie started.

"Dominique."

"Victoire."

"Ginny."

"Angelina."

"Louis."

"James."

"Rose."

"Hermione."

"Lucy."

"Hugo."

"Lily."

"Albus."

"Right, that's everyone, then," Charlie said. "Let's get ready."

Twenty minutes later, the contingent of Weasleys, wearing cloaks, scarves, and gloves, headed out into the snow, which was now at least a foot deep. They went over to a field near the Forbidden Forest and started building a fort. With all fourteen of them working, it was quickly finished, and then Charlie and Teddy drew straws to see which team would get the fort. Teddy won, so Teddy, Victoire, Angelina, James, Hermione, Hugo, and Albus withdrew into the fort and began to stockpile snowballs, while Charlie, Dominique, Ginny, Louis, Rose, Lucy, and Lily went off a short ways and started making plans and snowballs at the same time.

"So who's our general?", Charlie asked. The Weasley version of a snowball fight was a mixture of Tag and Capture the Flag, and the attacking team's general was the strategic director, and commanded from the air.

"Rose," Lily said at once. "She can fly, she's got Aunt Hermione's brains, and Uncle Ron's chess skills. It's quite a lethal combination."

So Rose found herself heading up to the broom shed to get her Lightning Bolt 300. When she arrived back, she found the two teams drawn up opposite each other, snowballs, attackers, and defenders in place. Rose mounted her broom, kicked off, and the battle began.

Dominique and Lily attacked from the right, while Louis and Lucy started a frontal barrage. Meanwhile, Charlie and Ginny did their best to sneak around to the back of the fort unnoticed. Rose was kept busy alternately directing the attack and procuring snowballs.

During a lull in Teddy's group's defence, because their snowball supply was running low, Charlie's team doubled their efforts and managed to draw attention away from the back of the fort. This was Charlie and Ginny's chance. Seizing a moment when there was no-one at the back, they raced up to the fort and climbed inside. Snatching the flag from the pile of snow in the center, they were already halfway over the wall before they were discovered. A great hue and cry arose, but Charlie and Ginny had gotten safely away and were racing back to their team. When they reached their own flag, and placed the captured flag next to it, everybody cheered.

"We won!", Lily yelled excitedly. Rose soared around in circles before landing.

"Good game," Teddy said, shaking the snow out of his bright yellow hair.

"It was," Victoire agreed, slipping her hand into his. "Even if we lost." They all started back up to the castle.

That evening, after several riotous games of Exploding Snap, Rose headed upstairs. She found the curtains of her bed pinned shut with a note attached to the pin. Unfolding it, she studied the unfamiliar scrawl.

_Rose,_

_A bunch of us are going skating in the moonlight tonight. If you want to join, then be down at the big chestnut behind Hagrid's at eleven._

_Dominique_

Rose grinned. A moonlit skating party would be a wonderful way to end the day.

She waited that night until the others in the dorm were asleep, and then crept out and down the stairs, carrying her shoes in one hand and her skates in the other. Putting on her shoes in the common-room, she slipped out of the castle through a little-used side door and made her way down to the lake.

A shape detached itself from the group of shadowy figures under the chestnut and waved to Rose. It was Dominique.

"Hey, Rose," she said. "Most of us are here already, we're just waiting for a few more people."

"How many of us are there?", Rose asked. They were both speaking in hushed tones, as they knew how well sound carried in the still night air.

"Fourteen, I think," Dominique replied. "You, me, James, Ted, Vic, and Al, and then Al told his girlfriend Maria, and she brought her friend Laura Turpin and Laura's boyfriend Martin Corner. James told Mary Finch-Fletchley, and Mary's boyfriend Steven, and Mary's friend Anne Whitby came too. She told her fiend Joseph Bryant, who happens to be best mates with Malfoy." Dominique made a face.

"So, we've got three Gryffindors, two ex-Gryffindors, three Ravenclaws, three Hufflepuffs, one ex-Hufflepuff, and two Slytherins," Rose counted up.

"We're only waiting for Mary and Steven now," Dominique said.

"Shall I go look for them?", James asked as they walked down to the edge of the lake.

"Look for who?", Mary herself asked, coming up to them with Steven right behind her.

"You," Rose said.

"Well, we're all here now," Dominique put in. "On with the skating!"

With muffled giggles, and silent gasps as someone fell over, they all skated out across the frozen surface of the lake. Rose slid out over the ice, enjoying the light breeze. It was a wonderfully clear night. Up above, stars twinkled, and a waning full moon bathed the lake in light. The tree stood out sharply against the snowy banks. Behind them, a few lights glowed here and there in the castle. Rose skated over to the far side of the lake, and then headed back across to her starting point.

After half an hour of skating, James organized them into a game of chain tag. Teddy started. Managing to catch Victoire suspiciously quickly, he then sped off after James, pulling Victoire behind him. James then caught Al, and Victoire just barely grabbed Dominique. Al caught Maria, who caught Steven, who caught Mary, putting Mary and Dominique on the end of the chain.

The remaining six sped all over the ice, trying to avoid Dominique and Mary's clutching fingers. Anne wasn't fast enough to escape Dominique, and Joseph was caught almost immediately after. Then Mary caught Laura, who grabbed Martin almost instantly.

Only Rose herself and Scorpius were left now. The long chain of people, with Martin and Joseph at the ends, slid across the lake in pursuit of the two of them. Rose followed Scorpius blindly, trying to stay out of reach of Joseph. Muffled giggles filled the air as the chain slid to a halt and did its best to turn, following Rose and Scorpius, who had turned and darted into a little bay.

At one side of the bay, there was what at first sight seemed to be a headland; but as they skated nearer, Rose noticed a little channel, also frozen over, leading through it. Scorpius slipped inside, and Rose followed. Rose stifled her laughter as she heard the others come in to the bay.

"They're caught now!"

"Wait a minute! Where'd they go?"

"I know I saw them come in here."

"Well, they're not here now, are they?"

"Maybe they went round the other side." The voices faded as the skaters moved away.

"Good one," Rose said.

Scorpius chuckled. "Imagine their faces when we come out behind them and go off in the opposite direction!"

"How did you find out about this place?", Rose asked curiously.

"We go swimming here in the summer term."

Her brow suddenly furrowed. "Hang on," Rose said. "That means Joseph knows too, right?"

"Yeah…" They looked at each other.

"I think," Scorpius said slowly, "we should probably leave before Joseph remembers about this channel."

Rose nodded and the two of them silently slipped out—straight into the waiting arms of the others.

"Got you!", Al crowed triumphantly.

"Let's play again," Mary suggested.

"I start," Scorpius announced. "After all, I was caught last."

The others reluctantly conceded, and sped out across the lake once more. Yet again, Rose managed to elude capture until the very end.

"You're too fast," Maria panted, when she had finally been caught.

Rose grinned. "I start this time. Let's play a different version. Instead of all joining into one long chain, we'll split up into pairs every time there are four of us."

"It'll definitely make the game go faster," Martin said. "Let's go!"

They skated off across the ice. Scorpius had been refastening his skates while they talked, so when they all started he was slightly behind the others. Rose, seeing her chance, sped in his direction first. He skated off, with Rose hot in pursuit. She chased him along the bank and out into the middle. Rose was just that much faster than Scorpius. Sliding around a little island, she reached out once—twice—and grabbed him by the sleeve.

"How did you get so fast?", Scorpius asked, as the two of them sped off after the others.

"We have a pond behind our house. I grew up knowing how to skate." Rose laughed. "I'm nearly as good as James now."

She stopped talking as they neared Victoire, and gave all her attention to skating. They caught Victoire easily, and then Teddy, who was hanging around nearby. They split up, Teddy and Victoire heading for Joseph, and Rose and Scorpius chasing Laura. Eventually everyone but James and Dominique had been captured.

They had managed to split themselves up in an interesting way. Al and Maria, Laura and Martin, Mary and Steven, Teddy and Victoire, Anne and Joseph, and Rose and Scorpius. They were doing their best to catch James and Dominique.

At least, most of them were. Teddy and Victoire seemed to have forgotten the others and were off by themselves at the other side of the lake.

Rose was trying to catch Dominique, but as they sped along she couldn't help enjoying the sensation of skating by moonlight, hand in hand with Scorpius. Of course, it was only because of the game they were playing, she hastily assured herself. But it was still…nice…

"Hello? Rose, are you awake?" Scorpius was tapping her on the shoulder. She caught a whiff of his lemon and pine scent as he bent his face down to her.

"What? Oh, yes, just thinking."

Rose turned and looked up at Scorpius. If he leaned a little closer, she would be perfectly placed to…

A shout broke her train of thoughts. She turned, startled. James and Dominique had been caught, the game was over, and Teddy was waving to them to come back to shore.

"It's getting late," he said, as they skated up to him. "We figure it's time we went back up to the castle."

He glanced curiously at Rose and Scorpius's hands, which were still intertwined. Blushing furiously, Rose dropped Scorpius's hand as though burned. If only Teddy didn't mention it… They took their skates off and headed slowly back up to the castle.

They left Mary, Steven, and Anne at the passageway to the kitchens, and Joseph and Scorpius at the entrance to the dungeons. Parting company with Maria, Laura, and Martin at the top of the staircase to the fifth floor, they dropped Victoire off at the Heads' common-room and made their way towards Gryffindor Tower.

The Fat Lady was fairly grumpy when they woke her up.

"What time do you call this?", she snapped angrily.

"Late," Rose said truthfully.

"Or very early," Al muttered.

Rose elbowed him. "Shut up, Al. Mistletoe."

The portrait swung open and admitted Rose, Dominique, Teddy, James, and Al. The two girls slipped silently into their dorm. As Rose drifted off to sleep, she decided that she liked skating by moonlight—especially if Scorpius was there.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So what did you think? It's not that difficult to review and let me know. :-)**

**P.S.: Don't expect an update soon, beacuse I'm going camping (again) next week and the week after. But if I'm lucky, I might be able to get the next chapter out two Sundays from now. Here's hoping!**


	19. Correspondence

**A/N: Hi every body, I am now back from all my camps and will hopefully have a better updating schedule from now on. i hope you like the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Dear<em> Rose,<em>

_I quite enjoyed Christmas at Hogwarts. It was great to see you all, and I loved being in the old castle again. But there was one thing I forgot to do when I was there. I somehow neglected to mention the fact that I want you as one of my bridesmaids. Will you?_

_Yours,_

_Victoire_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Victoire,<em>

_Tsk, tsk, tsk. You're so forgetful. Of course I will. Who else is going to be partaking in the ceremony (other that you and Teddy, of course)? Can't wait!_

_Yours in haste, as I need to go study,_

_Rose_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Rose,<em>

_Ah, studying. What a joy. At least you have wonderful letters from your dear cousin to give you a brief respite. Anyway, you asked who's doing what. You, Dom, Lily, Roxanne, and Lucy are my bridesmaids. Samuel Finch-Fletchley is best man. Tante Gabrielle's daughter, Suzanne, is ring bearer. And—brace yourself for this, Rosie—Teddy's second cousin is flower girl. Stella Malfoy. Yes, we invited the Malfoys. They are, after all, Teddy's only remaining blood relatives apart from his grandmother. So we sent them an invitation, and Draco and Astoria and their children accepted. Who knows, we might be in for a lovely reconciliation-of-estranged-family-members._

_We haven't actually decided on the colour theme yet, but when we do I'll let you know._

_Yours,_

_Victoire_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Vic,<em>

_Sounds fabulous. Looking forward to it. write you more later, I've got DADA now and Professor Zeller gets hopping mad if we're not punctual._

_Hurriedly yours,_

_Rose_

* * *

><p><em>Scorpius,<em>

_Why didn't you tell me you were going to my cousin's wedding in April?_

_Rose_

* * *

><p><em>I didn't know myself until last week. Are you going?<em>

* * *

><p><em>Naturally. I'm a bridesmaid. And your little sister is the flower girl.<em>

* * *

><p><em>Is she? Dad didn't tell me that.<em>

* * *

><p><em>Rose, stop passing notes in class. Professor Zeller's looking in your direction. Who are you passing them to, anyway?<em>

* * *

><p><em>None of your business, Al.<em>

* * *

><p><em>Well, they keep flying over my head. The professor's going to think it was me.<em>

* * *

><p><em>Seeing as I'm the one who now has detention, dear cousin, I'll thank you kindly to stop corresponding with me during study hours.<em>

* * *

><p><em>Look who's speaking.<em>

* * *

><p><em>I'm not, I'm writing.<em>

* * *

><p><em>Great, now I've got detention, Rose. Thanks a lot.<em>

* * *

><p><em>You're welcome. Now leave me alone.<em>

* * *

><p><em>Dear Dom,<em>

_I heard we're both bridesmaids. And that the Malfoys are coming to the wedding. That'll be fun. How's your reporting going? Are you travelling to any exotic countries anytime soon? Got to go now, lunch is nearly over and I have Transfiguration next._

_Yours,_

_Rose_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Rose,<em>

_Aaagh! Don't mention bridesmaids at present! Even though there's another three months until the wedding, it's all that Maman and Victoire can talk about. Constant discussions, all the time. What will the bridesmaids wear, what's the colour theme going to be, shall we have a marquee or hold it under the open sky, are our seventeenth cousins twice removed going to be invited or not, etc etc. I've had enough of the wedding right now. As for the reporting, there isn't much going on at present. I'll be travelling to Germany next week to cover a conference about the laws on importing magical animals (yawn) but I don't have any other assignments at the moment. So I'm at home, right in the middle of al the wedding chatter. Yay. I'm thinking of visiting Fred in Hogsmeade sometime soon. Let me know when your next Hogsmeade weekend is, and I'll try to make it then. _

_Yours,_

_Dominique_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Dom,<em>

_Alright, I won't mention the wedding anymore. Good luck on the trip to Germany. Take some pictures this time, you took absolutely none on your trip to Peru. Our next Hogsmeade trip is February 11. and we have a Quidditch match, Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff, the week after. Maybe you could come see that too?_

_Yours,_

_Rose_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Vic,<em>

_As it is a Sunday afternoon and I have completed all my homework, I now have enough time to write to you. How are the wedding preparations going? Dom says she's up to her ears in it. have you decided on a colour theme yet? Oops, got to go. Al wants me for something or other. He probably needs help with his homework._

_Yours,_

_Rose_

* * *

><p><em>Rose,<em>

_Come on, just give me the answer to number 17. Please? If you do, I swear I won't bother you until the end of the month._

* * *

><p><em>That'd be a first, Al.<em>

* * *

><p><em>Give it up, Al, you should know by now that she won't give you the answers.<em>

* * *

><p><em>None of your business, Lu.<em>

* * *

><p><em>Dear Rose,<em>

_I'm Portkeying in tomorrow. And I'm staying for the match as well. I love watching Quidditch at Hogwarts. See you Saturday!_

_Yours, _

_Dom_

* * *

><p><em>James,<em>

_Yesterday was definitely not funny. If you ever decide to use me as a guinea-pig for WWW merchandise again, then I will write to your mother._

_Rose_

* * *

><p><em>Please don't! I swear I won't do it again.<em>

* * *

><p><em>Dear Rose,<em>

_How are things going with you? I remember the homework load in my sixth year. I can't imagine that it would be much different for you. Except that you don't have a bunch of Death Eaters controlling the school. I heard something from Al the other day about how "absolutely hilarious" my firstborn was in Hogsmeade. Do I need to write to him? And what exactly did he do anyway? Every time I see Fleur or Victoire, they're up to their ears with wedding preparations. And the chaos at the Burrow is nearly as bad. I've written to Professor McGonagall to ask her to give you all a week off before the Easter holidays, as you're needed. She'll most likely agree. Write me back as soon as you can (but don't neglect your homework to do so, or Hermione will kill me for suggesting it)._

_Love,_

_Ginny_

_P.S.: seeing as you'll be 17 in six days' time, I think you should drop the 'Aunt'. After all, you're legally becoming an adult now._

* * *

><p><em>Dear Ginny,<em>

_It feels weird not calling you Aunt. But I do see what you mean about the whole legally-an-adult thing. (Imagine! I'm going to be 17 tomorrow!) Don't mention homework please, the mere thought makes me groan. As for what James did in Hogsmeade, well…It's a good thing I have a free period, because that gives me enough time to write you the whole story in detail. Last Saturday was a Hogsmeade weekend. Em, Lucy, and I were walking down the main street, talking, when suddenly a snowball hit me on the head. Not anything out of the norm, right? Except that as soon as it hit me, my hair turned purple. I turned around to find James standing in the doorway of WWW laughing his head off. When I started towards him, he threw another snowball. I ducked, and it hit Emma instead, turning her hair green. Then all three of us were mad at him, because his next one made Lucy's hair blue. It didn't wash out for a week. James said he was just 'testing the new products.' I'm sure Fred put him up to it. Professor McGonagall told us all yesterday that we've got the week before Easter off. Unfortunately, it means I'll be missing the beginning of the study of Patronuses, but maybe Uncle Harry could help me there? I'm going to be 17 tomorrow1 I can't wait! We start Appparition lessons tomorrow as well. I hope it's not too difficult. I'm looking forward to the wedding. You know how much I love organized chaos!_

_Yours in anticipation,_

_Rose_


	20. Apparition and a birthday party

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update. I hope you guys like the chapter! It was partially inspired by my own recent birthday-I didn't get a surprise party, but it's something I've always wanted. and in all fairness to my mother, she did try to organize one, but it didn't work out. Anyway...**

**On with the story!**

* * *

><p>The morning of Rose's birthday dawned bright and clear. Rose was woken by someone bouncing onto the mattress next to her.<p>

"Happy birthday, Rose! Wake up! You're seventeen!"

Rose opened her eyes to find a pair of brown eyes looking back at her. "Get out of my face, Lily," she mumbled.

"Oh, good. You're awake." Lily jumped off the bed and flung the window open, letting in the cool morning air.

Rose yawned, stretched, and stumbled out of bed. She leaned out of the window, letting the early morning breeze wake her up properly. She turned around and looked at Lily, who was now sitting on Rose's bed. "And why exactly did you feel the need to get me up this early, Lily?"

Lily grinned. "It's your seventeenth birthday, Rose. I merely think you should make the most of it."

Rose chuckled. "So what have you got planned for me today, then? After all, you're the family's main organizer."

"Well, for starters, you could get dressed."

Rose laughed. "Wouldn't be a bad idea."

On her way to breakfast she got about twenty birthday greetings from various people. In the Great Hall, she asked Lily again: "What have you got planned for today?"

"Nothing for this morning, obviously, since we have classes. And after lunch you sixth years start Apparition. But before dinner we're playing a four-on-four game of Quidditch, and after dinner…" Lily chuckled.

"What?", Rose asked, interested.

But Lily just looked mysterious. "You'll find out."

During the course of the morning, Rose received birthday cards from various people, but to her surprise not a single one of them was from Scorpius. Looking through them again during lunch, she realized that there were none from her cousins either. That was odd. She wondered what was going on. They couldn't all have forgotten her birthday.

After lunch, she headed outside to her favourite tree by the edge of the lake, where she pulled out her Ancient Runes book and started studying. They had a test coming up two weeks before Easter, and she was determined to remain at the head of the class.

At two thirty, the sixth years were due to start Apparition lessons. Rose met Lucy and Emma in the Entrance Hall, and the three of them went into the Great Hall together. The house tables had vanished, leaving the floor empty. Students stood around in clusters, gossiping or talking about the forthcoming lesson. On the platform at the end of the room was Professor Ffloyd, who was talking to a tall, dark-skinned man who Rose recognized.

She nudged Lucy, and pointed. "Look! It's Mr. Thomas—you know, Margaret's dad, and one of Dad and Uncle Harry's friends."

Lucy studied him for a moment. "You're right. I wonder what he's doing here."

"He works at the Ministry, in the Department of Magical Transportation," came Margaret Thomas' soft voice from behind them. Shaking her long silky black braids back, she added: "He's going to be the Apparition teacher. And Mum will be one of the examiners." Margaret pointed to where a pretty Indian woman with eyes the same shade of brown as her daughter's was standing. "She came along with Dad today because she wanted to see the castle again."

"Her sister used to be the Astronomy professor, didn't she?"

"Yes, she taught for five years. But then Uncle Michael proposed to her, and Aunt Padma married him and gave up her teaching post."

"Martin Corner is your cousin, right?", Rose asked.

"I never knew that," Lucy said.

"Well, we don't really interact that much. Not like your family," Margaret said, smiling.

"I wonder how many other people here are related to each other without us knowing it," Rose mused, gazing over the crowd.

"Samantha Davies and Albert Brocklehurst are cousins," Lucy said.

"And so are Anastasia Boot and Robert Clearwater, and Steven MacMillan and Thomas Bones, and Mary Finch-Fletchley and Harriet Branstone," Margaret said, enjoying the looks of surprise on the other girls' faces. "Jean Bulstrode's aunt is Martin and Constantia Flint's mum, and Clara Parkinson and Leora Zabini are cousins. And Laura Turpin's dad is Emma's mum's brother."

"How do you know all that?", Rose asked.

Margaret laughed. "I really like studying genealogies. I know the names of the grandparents of most of the students in our year, and who they're related to and how. I also know that your cousin Lily's boyfriend Roger Johnson is your cousin Roxanne's cousin on her mother's side." Rose stared open-mouthed. "And believe me," Margaret continued, "memorizing your family tree was difficult."

Just then, Dean Thomas started speaking, and they turned their attention to the front of the room. "Good afternoon, everyone," he said, smiling at them. "My name is Dean Thomas, and I am going to be your Apparition instructor. I remember my Apparition lessons when I was at Hogwarts," he went on. "I don't remember my teacher's name anymore, but I do remember what he taught me: the three D's. Destination, Determination, and Deliberation. Hopefully, I learned them well enough that I will be able to pass them on to you." A few people laughed; others looked excited or nervous. "Would you all please arrange yourselves in such a manner that you have six feet of clear space on every side?", Mr. Thomas called out. A babble of conversation ensued as people placed themselves.

"Move out of the way!"

"I was here first!"

"Six feet he said, not three, so would you please move over?"

"Look, I don't really care where you stand, as long as I have enough room!"

When everyone had settled down, Dean waved his wand. Wooden hoops, 1.5 feet in diameter, appeared in front of every student.

"Now," Dean said, as they gave him their attention again. As I mentioned before: the three D's of Apparition. Number one: Destination. Concentrate firmly on the place you wish to Apparate to—in this case, the centre of the hoop in front of you. Number two: Determination. Do not let your attention wander, but concentrate firmly on Apparating into your hoop. Number three: Deliberation. Turn carefully on the spot, feeling your way into Apparating, and concentrate on your destination."

Rose, having carefully listened to the instructions, turned on the spot. Nothing happened.

Sophie MacDougal, a Hufflepuff, had managed a sort of jump into her hoop, and looked very pleased with herself until she noticed her friend Harriet laughing at her.

Dean chuckled. "Don't be disappointed because you didn't manage it the first time," he said. "I have yet to meet a witch or wizard who could Apparate on their first try."

They tried again—and again. By the end of half an hour, no one yet had managed it.

"Remember, everyone!", Dean repeated. "Destination, Determination, Deliberation. Try again." They tried once more.

Suddenly there was a scream from the side of the hall. Sarah Cauldwell had Apparated—or at least, most of her had. Professor Ffloyd hurried over. There was a bang and a puff of smoke. When it had cleared away, Rose could see that Sarah had been reunited with her foot once more.

"And that," Dean called out over the hubbub, "is what happens when you are not sufficiently concentrated. You must let the desire to be at your destination fill you up. Try again!"

Nothing interesting happened for the rest of the lesson. They were dismissed at the end of an hour. Lily was waiting for Rose in the Entrance Hall.

"How did it go?", she asked.

"It was pretty boring, actually," Rose replied. "Only Sarah Cauldwell managed anything, and she Splinched herself." Lily winced in sympathy. "In fact," Rose went on, "the most interesting part was before the lesson actually started, when Lu and I were talking with Margaret. She studies genealogies as a hobby."

"Your lessons are over now, right?", Lily asked.

"Yup."

"Good. You've got a Quidditch game waiting for you."

Rose grinned. They headed out to the Quidditch pitch, stopping on the way to get Rose's Lightning Bolt 300 and Lily's new Swallow 60, which she had gotten from her parents for Christmas.

"It's not the fastest model around," Lily said, as they made their way down to the pitch, "but it's definitely got the smoothest and most comfortable ride. And it's perfect for precision diving and turning."

They arrived at the pitch, where James, Albus, Lucy, Louis, Emma, and Hugo were waiting for them.

"How are we splitting up?", Rose asked.

Lily scanned them all. "I think boys against girls would work just fine," she said. "You're just as good as James, if not better—"

"Hey," James protested, but Lily ignored him and continued.

"—Hugo's fairly awful, and Lucy's pretty good, but to make up for that they can have Louis as Keeper and we'll take Emma, which leaves me and Albus as Seekers."

"Sounds good to me."

"And as there are only eight of us," Lucy added, "Hugo and I will play Chaser, and we'll do without Beaters or Bludgers. We'll just take the Quaffle and the Snitch."

Rose, Lucy, Emma, James, Albus, and Louis mounted their brooms and rose into the air, Emma and Louis heading towards the goalposts and the other four staying near the middle of the pitch. Albus tossed the Quaffle into the air, Lily released the Snitch, and the game began.

Rose dove, snatched the Quaffle, and headed for the goalposts where Louis was hovering. James flew in front of her in an attempt to stop her. Rose passed around him to Lucy, and flew around James just in time to catch the Quaffle as Lucy passed it back. She easily avoided Hugo, who was almost as helpless on a broom as his mother. She flew towards the left, passed to Lucy at the last minute, and Lucy threw the ball through the right hoop before Louis could stop her.

Rose cheered. "Hey James," she called as Louis flew down the get the Quaffle, "who's keeping score?"

James pointed downwards. Rose looked to see where he was pointing, and saw Michael Jordan and Roger Johnson sitting in the stands.

Rose flew closer to James. "Are you sure they won't be biased?", she asked, grinning. "After all, both of their girlfriends are on my team."

James chuckled. "I'm keeping score, too," he informed her. "Come on, let's keep playing."

By the end of an hour, the score stood at 50-40 to the girls. Neither Al nor Lily had spotted the Snitch yet, though it wasn't for lack of trying.

James was in possession. He sped towards the end of the pitch, clutching the Quaffle tightly under his arm. He aimed—threw—Emma zoomed over to it just in time; she punched it in Rose's direction, Rose caught it, and was off again.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a commotion at the foot of the goalposts. She turned and watched, still holding the Quaffle. Lily and Al were racing each other, darting in and out between the posts, chasing the Snitch. Rose watched with bated breath. The rest of the players had also stopped in mid-air, watching excitedly as Lily swerved upwards to narrowly avoid a collision with Al, and then dove again, using her added height to accelerate.

Albus was nearly at the Snitch now. He stretched out—tried again—and then was nearly knocked off his broom as Lily swooped from above and grabbed it from just in front of his outstretched fingers. She rose, the ball fluttering feebly in her tightly closed fist.

Rose cheered. James grinned. "Good game."

"Even though we lost," Hugo said, wobbling to a stop beside them.

"I think it was mainly on account of your awful flying," Lucy chuckled, flying up to them. "No offence, but you fly about as well as Uncle Ron cooks." Everyone laughed.

They landed, put away the balls, and made their way back up to the castle, dropping their brooms at the broom shed on the way.

After dinner that evening, Rose went up to the common-room to start work on her Charms essay. When she had written two of the four rolls of parchment that Professor Tumpty had asked for, Lily came bounding in, evidently very excited about something.

"Are you busy, Rose?", she asked.

"Well, I'm working on my Charms essay, and then I have to finish my star chart for Professor Finnagull, and there was an extra-credit assignment that Professor Ffloyd gave us that I wanted to start on as well…"

"When's all this due?"

"The Charms essay is due next Saturday, the star chart has to be finished by the 25th, and the Transfiguration assignment has to be handed in by the first of March."

"And you're up to date on the rest of your homework?" Rose nodded.

"Well then," Lily said, smiling, "you're not busy this evening—not with homework, at least. I have something I want to show you. Come on!"

And before Rose had time to protest, she found herself being dragged out through the portrait hole by an enthusiastic fifteen-year-old.

They headed up to the seventh floor. "Where are we going?", Rose asked.

"You'll see," was all the answer she got. Lily came to a halt in a little-used corridor that Rose didn't recognize.

"Close your eyes," Lily instructed.

Rose did so. She could hear Lily walking back and forth.

"Lily? What are you—"

"You can open your eyes now," Lily broke in.

Rose looked around. At the other end of the corridor was a door that had certainly not been there a minute ago.

"Go on in," Lily urged, nudging her towards it. Rose hesitated, then slowly moved over to the door. She pulled it open and walked inside.

"Surprise!"

Rose stared. Whatever else she had been expecting, it had certainly not been this.

The big, brightly lit room she had walked into was full of people. A banner hung across the far wall read "Happy birthday Rose!" There were balloons and streamers everywhere, matching the blue and white decorations. Along the opposite wall stood a table loaded with food that made her mouth water just looking at it. in the center was a massive chocolate cake with a "17" on it. Under the banner stood a second table piled high with presents and cards.

Rose stood there, taking it all in. Then everyone began talking at once.

"We sure surprised you, didn't we?"

"Surprised isn't the word for it. I'd say she was utterly overcome!"

"Do you like it, Rose?"

"I should hope so, we spent ages getting it ready."

"You didn't suspect a single thing, did you?"

"Alright everyone, now that the main guest is here…let the party begin!"

This last was from Lily, who had entered behind Rose. She waved her wand at a magical stereo system in the corner, which immediately began thumping out music.

"Won't the professors hear us?", Rose asked Lily as they made their way to the buffet.

"Nope. The Room's Imperturbable. It can be if you ask it to."

"Wait—are we in the Room of Requirement?"

"We sure are. It was the only place I could think of where we wouldn't be discovered."

"So did you organize all this?"

"James and Lucy helped," Lily admitted. "But yes, I did most of the planning, although it was Emma who came up with the idea in the first place."

"Thanks a lot," Rose said, as they filled their plates.

"Don't mention it," Lily said. "I positively enjoyed arranging it."

Then she disappeared into the crowd, where someone was beckoning to her.

As Rose started on her second dinner, she scanned the crowd, amazed at how many people had come. All the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs in her year were there, as well as Lorcan and Lysander, the fourth year Scamander twins, and several others of Hugo and Lily's third year classmates. Some seventh years were there too.

Rose kept looking through the crowd, searching for one face in particular.

"Looking for someone?", a voice asked from behind her.

Rose turned around, grinning. "Not any more. Hi, Scorpius."

He chuckled. "Hi Rose. Happy birthday."

"Thanks."

"There you are!" It was Lily. She grabbed Rose by the hand and started pulling her through the crowd. "You'll never believe what I just saw," she said over her shoulder, as they manoeuvred between people.

"Lily, wait—I was talking to…"

But then they arrived at the sofa Lily had been heading for, and Rose saw why her cousin had been so eager to get her.

On the sofa were Louis and Gwen Peters, the seventh year Ravenclaw prefect.

Kissing.

"When did that happen?", Rose asked, pointing at the two of them.

Lily shrugged. "Sometime in December, I think. But this is the first time I've actually caught them at it."

Just then, Louis noticed them. "Er…hi."

Lily grinned. "We didn't mean to interrupt you. Don't mind us."

Louis blushed faintly. Gwen chuckled. "As long as you don't mind us."

The party continued for the next three hours, gaining in volume and excitement.

They cut the cake at ten o'clock. Rose opened her presents after that. All of her cousins' cards and presents were included in the stack on the table, but to Rose's surprise, there was still nothing from Scorpius. He couldn't have forgotten to get her something, she reasoned with herself. There was probably a completely logical explanation.

The party finally ended at midnight, and Lily started sending people off to bed. When most of them had left, Scorpius came up to Rose, holding something behind his back.

"I didn't want to give you this with everyone watching," he said. "I hope you like it."

He held out a present wrapped in gold and silver paper. Rose took it, wondering what it was. It was heavy and rectangular, but it didn't feel like a book. As the last of the wrapping paper fell away, she gasped.

Inside an ornate gold and silver frame was a photo, of an incident she remembered well. In the middle of January, they had had another moonlight skating party. They had lit a fire, hidden by the trees, on the bank, and had sat around it talking and laughing and roasting marshmallows. In the photo, Rose was sitting on a log, her hair glowing brilliantly by the light of the fire. Scorpius was perched on the end of the log, doing his best to eat a roasted marshmallow neatly and not succeeding very well. Rose looked down at her pictured self, who was laughing at Scorpius. She looked up again at the real Scorpius.

"Thanks," she said, smiling. "Who took it?"

"Mary Finch-Fletchley, you know how she's always clicking around with her camera. Do you like it?"

"Of course! Thanks a lot."

Up in her dormitory again, Rose was about to stand the photo on her bedside table, when a sudden thought struck her. She did not want Susie Finnegan catching sight of it; if she interpreted the picture differently, it would be all over the school within a week. Sighing, she moved to put it into the drawer of her bedside table.

The rest of her presents were dumped in her trunk; she was too tired to sort them out right now. Flopping wearily into bed, she smiled, going over the events of the day in her head again.

It had definitely been a wonderful seventeenth birthday.


	21. Off to the Potters'

**A/N: Yay! Another update! I was quite fast with this one, compared to some others *cough2monthscough*. But I'm not sure how often I'll be able to use the computer in the next few weeks, so don't expect the next update to be as fast.**

**On the plus side, I now have through chapter 23 written, I just need to get it onto the computer.**

**A big thank you to _flutegirl98_, my fortieth reviewer! And I also want to thank all of you who have reviewed at any other time, or favourited, or followed. I don't have space here to name you all, but you know who you are :-)**

**One last note: Hovertag is a game I invented. It's like Freezetag but played on brooms. If you get tagged you have to hover in mid-air wherever you are until someone frees you again (hence the name).**

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><p>The next month quickly sped by.<p>

One Friday at the end of March, Rose was summoned to Professor McGonagall's office. When she arrived, she found James, Louis, Albus, Lucy, Hugo, and Lily there as well.

Professor McGonagall looked at them all over the top of her glasses and began.

"As I'm sure you all know, you have been given permission to go home a week early, as you are needed for your cousin's wedding preparations. We have sorted out your travel arrangements. You will leave tomorrow evening, on the overnight train from Inverness to London. It stops in Hogsmeade at nine p.m. A carriage will be waiting at the gates tomorrow at eight thirty to take you down to the station. The train arrives at Platform 3 ½ at seven a.m., where your mother," she nodded at James, Al, and Lily, "will meet you all. So please have your trunks packed before dinner tomorrow. Any questions?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Well, then, run along and have lunch."

"Thank you, Professor," Al said as they rose to leave.

The Headmistress smiled. "Oh, it wasn't any trouble, Potter."

As they headed down the spiral staircase, Rose said: "You're such a teacher's pet, Al."

Albus widened his bright green eyes innocently. "I can't help it if they all like me. I suppose it's due to a combination of my winning personality and my good looks." He smirked.

Rose looked him up and down. "Your good looks?", she said sceptically. "I wouldn't quite say that. But the fact remains, all the teachers like you, and you don't get half as many detentions as you should."

"Except from Professor Spinnet," Al said, frowning slightly. "She gives me way too many, I think."

"It's for your own good, you know."

"You sounded way too much like Aunt Hermione just then," Al remarked.

"Well, you just looked exactly the way Uncle Harry does when he's done something silly that he doesn't want Aunt Ginny to know about," Rose retorted swiftly.

The conversation subsided into teasing banter.

The next afternoon, once Charms was over, Lucy and rose went upstairs to pack their trunks. When they had finished, they carried them down to the Entrance Hall. Rose went back up to the Owlery to get her owl, Artemis. She brought her downstairs and deposited her, in her cage, on top of the trunks.

Dinner was noisy; but Rose knew from experience that having all the Weasleys and their relatives together in one place would be a whole lot noisier. When they had finished eating, Rose and Lucy said goodbye to Emma and headed out to the front gates, where a carriage was waiting. The house elves had already put their trunks inside. James was the last of the cousins to arrive; he always took forever over his meals.

The carriage rumbled away from the school and down through the village to the station on the other side. Though it was already quarter to nine, and the sun had long since set, Hogsmeade residents were still up and about. A bang emitted from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes as they drove past, followed by a bunch of fireworks that an unwary customer had accidentally dropped. Laughter and singing came out of the Three Broomsticks, followed by a thump as someone bumped into a table.

Hogsmeade station was quiet, lit only by a lamp in the middle of the platform and a light in the ticket seller's office. Louis stepped up to the window.

"Five adult and two minor's tickets to London, please," he said.

The ticket seller, who had been nodding off to sleep, jumped. "Eh? What?", he asked blearily. Louis repeated his request. "That'll be sixty Galleons, sir," the seller said.

Louis handed over the money, received the tickets, and led them all onto the platform. They had just finished dragging all the trunks through the barrier when a low rumbling announced the approach of the train.

Rose saw the lit-up sign "Inverness—London" as the engine whooshed past. The train braked, slowed, and came to a halt. Assisted by the conductor, they heaved their trunks onto the train and found two compartments.

As the train started to pull away from the station, Rose looked around the compartment that she, Lucy, and Lily had been ushered in to. On either side, in place of seats, were two sets of bunk beds built into the wall. Underneath the window was a washbasin. There were even—Rose chuckled at the sight—toothbrushes and washcloths laid out all ready for use.

"I get the top bunk," Lily said, swinging her bag up onto it.

"I get the other," Rose announced.

Lucy sighed. "I guess that leaves me with a bottom one then."

The train sped on through the night, with only a few stops. The girls slept, ignoring the clatter of the engine and the voices from the boys' compartment next door.

Several hours later, Rose awoke to the sound of a whistle blowing and doors closing all along the train. They had evidently just stopped in a station. Rose caught a glimpse of a sign saying "Leavesden" as the train pulled out. She got up and got dressed, and then started to wake the others.

"What time is it?", Lucy yawned.

"Six thirty. We'll be in London in half an hour."

The countryside gave way to small towns, which became bigger as they neared the city. They pulled into Platform 3 ½ at King's Cross at 7:05. Rose leaned out of the window as the train slowed down.

"Aunt Ginny! Aunt Ginny! Here we are," she called, waving to the tall, red-haired woman on the platform.

Ginny waved back, smiling. She waited for the train to stop before asking: "How was the journey?"

"I don't know," Rose chuckled, lifting her trunk down onto the platform. "I slept for most of it."

"I didn't," Hugo yawned, appearing in the doorway. "The others kept me awake with all their talking."

"Excuse me?" Lily laughed. "I heard you the loudest, dear cousin." Everyone laughed.

As they walked out of the station, Rose asked: "Why are you the only one meeting us, Aunt Ginny?"

"Your mum, Percy, and Audrey are all at work," Ginny explained, leading the way to where she had parked. "Ron," she gave a snort, "is most likely still in bed. And there was no reason for Bill and Fleur to travel all the way up from Shell Cottage just to greet Louis. So since you're all staying at our house anyway, I volunteered to come get you."

Lily turned around so that she was walking backwards, facing her mother. "They're all staying at our place?", she said, looking confused. "Why?"

"Because we have so many people coming for the wedding who need somewhere to sleep that we decided it would be easier to just put all you cousins in one place, and out house was best," Ginny said, reaching out and grabbing her daughter's arm. "Lily, watch where you're going."

Lily turned to the front again just in time to miss a letterbox. They came to a halt at a big blue van which was taking up nearly two parking spaces. Rose stared at it.

"Is this ours?"

"Surprise," Ginny announced with a flourish. "Since we were tired of always having a fleet of cars every holiday, we decided to buy a fifteen-seater van instead. It has two seats in the front, four in the back, and three rows of three in between. In fact, because the Weasley clan encompasses slightly more than fifteen people," she chuckled, "we bought two. The other one, which is green, is parked at Nan and Granddad's house. This one will stay at our place when not in use." Ginny laughed outright at the looks of surprise on everyone's faces.

"Wow," was all that Rose managed to get out.

"Why didn't you tell us?", Lily demanded.

"And where on earth did you get them?", Louis added.

"How long ago did you get them?", Albus put in.

"What make are they?", Hugo asked.

Ginny held her hands up, laughing. "Whoa, everybody. Slow down. I can only answer one of you at a time. We didn't tell you because we wanted it to be a surprise. We got them from a used-car dealership in Muggle London, last month. And I have no idea what make they are, Hugo, you'll have to ask your granddad about that. He's the one who chose them." Ginny smiled around at them all. "All questions answered? Well then, hop in."

They arrived at the Potters' house at eight thirty. It was out in the country, about halfway between Godric's Hollow and Ottery St. Catchpole. The drive up to the house was lined with Flutterby bushes. The house itself stood in a grove of beech, oak, and chestnut trees. When the Potters first bought it, it had been a five bedroom house with a front porch, but over the years it had been added to and rebuilt and renovated so many times that it resembled a cross between a farm and a summer villa. The main building stood in the center. It was flanked by guest cottages on either side, with three bedrooms each. At the back was a large garden sloping down to a stream. Off to the right, hidden by the trees, was a Quidditch pitch.

Ginny drove into the sunny, stone-paved courtyard and parked the van.

"Who's staying where?," Lucy asked as they got out.

"You can fight it out amongst yourselves," Ginny responded. She waved her hand at the cottage on the right. "You've got those three bedrooms. One of you girls—"

"Rose," Lily interjected swiftly.

"—will be in Lily's room," Ginny continued. "Louis, you're with James, as I can't put either Fred or Hugo in with him if I don't want the house blown up, and Al's room is too small. The rest of you are in the cottage. And don't forget," she said over her shoulder as she turned to go into the house, "that Dominique, Fred, Roxanne, and Molly are coming too. They arrive tomorrow."

By lunch time everybody was settled in. Lucy adamantly refused to share a room with her sister, so she was going to have Roxanne in with her, and Dominique and Molly were to share another, which left Fred and Hugo the third.

Over lunch, which was chicken noodle soup, Rose asked who was going to be staying in the other cottage. Ginny gave a mischievous look around the table before replying.

"The Malfoys."

There was silence for a minute. Then the uproar began.

"Who?"

"Why are they coming!"

"Do they have to stay here?"

"You've got to be joking!"

"Are they seriously coming to the wedding?"

Lucy said nothing, but merely flashed a knowing look in Rose's direction. Then she leaned over and whispered, under the cover of the others: "You're blushing, Rose."

Rose blushed even harder, dropped her napkin, and bent to pick it up. By the time she had surfaced again, she was sufficiently recovered to be able to send a glare in Lucy's direction. Ginny gave Rose a half smile before turning to the others.

"Alright everyone, quiet down." When they had stopped, Ginny continued. "The Malfoys have been invited because they are the only blood relations Teddy has, apart from his grandmother. Draco and Astoria and their children are coming. They need a place to stay for the night because their eldest daughter, Stella, is flower girl, and as such is needed for the rehearsal. So they're coming two days before the wedding, and leaving the day after. And to answer your question, James, they're staying here because the Burrow is full, as are Shell Cottage and Percy and Audrey's. George and Angelina only have space for two people, and I didn't think that it would be a good idea to have them stay at Ron's. so the only place left was here." Ginny looked especially hard at James and Hugo. "And I don't want any comments about their family, or what they may or may not have done in the past. Alright?"

James and Hugo nodded.

The silence was broken by Lily inquiring what the plans for the rest of the day were.

"Dad will be home around four," Ginny said as they continued eating. "Then I thought we'd take a picnic down to the river. How does that sound?"

"Wonderful," Lucy said.

"Can we take our brooms?", Albus asked.

"I don't see why not. And one more thing: the Scamanders are coming too." Rolf and Luna lived only half a mile away, which resulted in a lot of visiting between the two families.

Lily and Hugo immediately began chattering excitedly. The Scamanders had just come back from a month in Brazil, and since they had taken the twins with them, Lily and Hugo hadn't seen Lorcan and Lysander since the end of January.

That evening they set off for the river. James, Louis, Rose, Al, Lucy, and Lily had their brooms along. Hugo, taking after his mother, preferred to keep his feet firmly on the ground. Harry surprised them all by pulling out his old Firebolt and announcing that he needed to practice his flying skills.

Rose laughed. "You don't need any more practice," she chuckled. "Last Christmas, your team beat Uncle Charlie's 210 to 70."

"You never know when you may need your skills," Harry said, his bright green eyes twinkling. "So it's best to be up to standard."

"What would you need your Quidditch skills for, Dad?", Lily inquired. "And what standard?"

But Harry wouldn't tell them anything else, even though they pestered him all the way down to the river.

When they reached the banks, Ginny spread out the picnic blanket and cast a protective charm around the basket, so that no one—especially Hugo, who had his father's appetite—would sneak any unauthorised food before dinner. Two sharp cracks announced the arrival of Rolf, Luna, and the twins. Lily and Hugo immediately rushed off to talk to Lorcan and Lysander, and Luna settled herself on the rug next to Ginny.

"Let's play Hovertag!", James called out.

"I'll be it," Lily said.

"Me too," Lysander added. They started counting.

"10…9…8…"

The others started to mount their brooms and take off.

"7…6…5…"

"Uncle Harry, are you playing?", Rose asked.

"I guess so."

"Well, come on, then."

"4…3…2…1…Here we come!" Lily and Lysander swung into the air after the others.

Soon the air was full of people swooping, hovering, diving, screaming, and just generally having fun.

Finally, everyone had been caught, and they all landed, put their brooms to the side, and ate dinner. After dinner, someone started a game of Chinese Whispers, which everyone participated in. Funnily, nearly every sentence, even if it started out completely differently, ended up with the word "Quidditch" in it.

They headed back home around nine. Rose and Lily said goodnight to the rest and headed upstairs to Lily's bedroom on the top floor. Rose was about to get changed for bed when Lily stopped her.

"James said if we can sneak out to the cottage at ten thirty, they have marshmallows, chocolate, and biscuits. Up for it?"

"Sure."

The rest of the evening was spent eating sugar, getting hyper, and trying to keep the noise down so that Harry and Ginny wouldn't hear.

Rose was giggling madly at a joke of Hugo's that wasn't even remotely funny when James announced that they should probably go to bed, as it was twenty to one.

Rose and Lily tiptoed back inside and up to the top floor, trying to calm down and muffle their giggles. At last, Rose fell asleep, eagerly looking forward to the weeks of chaos, fun, and family ahead of her.

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><p><strong>AN: Yes, I do like Percy Jackson. Yes, that is why Rose has an owl called Artemis. Yes, there is a very interesting chapter coming up when the Malfoys arrive.**

**_Flofo_ and _Aister97_, in three chapters there will be more about Scorpius' sister Stella :-)**

**I hope you liked it! If you did, it would be really awesome if you could leave a review *makes puppy dog eyes* The more reviews I get, the more I'm inclined to update faster.**


	22. Unexpected arrivals

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait between updates. And I'm going to apologize in advance for the most likely very long wait there will be if I don't publish the next chapter before next Thursday.**

**Ok, this sounds weird. Let me explain.**

**Next Thursday, November starts. As does NaNoWriMo, National Novelists Writing Month (I think that's what it stands for.) And I've signed up for it. So next Thursday I will start attempting to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. Which will leave me practically no time for updating. So, apologies in advance.**

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><p>One week later, everyone was sitting at the breakfast table. The friendly argument about whether a Hummingbird was better than a Swallow and who would get the last piece of bacon was so loud that at first, no one noticed the squawk of the owl that had just landed on the windowsill. Fred finally looked up, with the bacon triumphantly on his fork, to see a pair of big yellow eyes staring patiently back at him.<p>

"Uncle Harry? An owl just arrived."

While Harry was letting it in, James used the momentary distraction to nick the bacon from Fred's fork. Ignoring the scuffling between his eldest son and his nephew, Harry untied the letter and handed it to Ginny.

"It's for you, dear."

Ginny opened the letter. "Who on earth is this from? I don't recognize the handwriting—"

Her eyes flew to the signature at the bottom, and she started. Ginny returned to the beginning of the letter and began to read. "Fred, James, stop it now," she said, not even bothering to lift her eyes, "or neither of you is getting any bacon tomorrow."

Fred and James looked up, both now clutching half of a piece of bacon that was looking much the worse for wear. They shrugged, stuffed what they had managed to salvage into their mouths, and turned to join in the debate about whether the Swallow's precision diving or the Hummingbird's excellent braking and hovering were to be preferred, and indeed if they were comparable at all.

Meanwhile, Ginny finished reading the letter, raised her eyebrows, and passed it to Harry.

When he had finished reading it, Ginny asked: "Will that work?"

"If the kids all pitch in and help get ready," Harry answered.

Ginny smiled sweetly. "It's either that, or face my wrath."

By now, the whole table was listening in on the cryptic conversation.

"What's going on?", Roxanne asked.

Ginny looked around the table before replying. "The Malfoys are coming a week earlier than planned. Astoria wrote to say that they had mixed up the dates and the renovators that were meant to be coming to her house on the fifth are coming this afternoon. So they need somewhere to stay, and she asked if they could come here. They will be arriving at—" she consulted the letter again, "—eleven. Which means that the cottage needs to be ready and the garden cleaned up by then." A chorus of groans arose from around the table. "And to make it quicker," Ginny went on, "you can use magic. If you are of age, obviously," she added, forestalling Lily's excited exclamation.

Now only Lily and Hugo groaned. James smirked in Hugo's direction, and nonchalantly started playing with his wand. Hugo threw a roll at him, which James caught and ate. Rose giggled at the look of annoyance on Hugo's face.

"Alright, James, that's enough," came Ginny's voice. "Everyone, I want you here at quarter past ten, but until then, the morning's your own."

Rose spent the first part of the morning reading in a hammock down by the stream.

At ten she went inside, where Ginny assigned her the task of pruning the Flutterby Bushes and trimming the grass bordering the drive, along with Molly. Using charmed clippers definitely made it go faster.

At five to eleven they were all in the sitting room, waiting for the Malfoys to arrive. The doorbell rang at eleven o'clock exactly.

"How's that for timing?", Lucy said. She leaned over and whispered in Rose's ear as Ginny went to answer the door. "Looking forward to the next week, Rose dear?"

Rose blushed. "Why should I be?", she whispered back.

"Because he's going to be here all week." There was no need for Lucy to say who she meant.

"It's not like I'm planning on being obvious about anything," Rose hissed back.

"And how are you going to manage that? Recently, you've been blushing every time you spend time with him. Or when I mention him."

"I do not!" But the colour tingeing Rose's cheeks said otherwise. "And, just so you know, Lu, I'm planning on avoiding him as much as I can so that—"

But Lucy never found out why, because at that moment their whispered conversation was interrupted by Ginny calling "Rose!" from the hall. Lucy smirked.

"So much for avoiding him," she muttered, as Rose got up.

"Shut up, Lu."

Rose ventured out into the hallway to find Harry, Ginny, Draco, and Astoria all standing around talking. Ginny turned as Rose came out. "There you are," she said cheerfully. "Rose, this is Draco and Astoria. Draco, Astoria, my niece, Rose."

Rose turned to find herself facing someone who looked almost exactly like Scorpius, only older. Nervously, Rose shook hands with Draco, and then turned to Astoria, who had long brown hair, dark eyes, and a smile just like her son's.

"Rose," Ginny said, "would you take them over to the cottage and help them settle in, please? I've got to go start lunch."

"Our trunks are still outside," Astoria said. "And Elanor fell asleep just before she left, so since Scorpius was holding her anyway, I just left the four of them with the luggage as well."

They went back out the front door, where Rose saw five trunks piled up, with two brooms lying next to them. Scorpius was sitting on one of the trunks, with a sound asleep little girl in his arms. A little boy, about eight or nine, was perched on another trunk, kicking his heels. As rose, Draco, and Astoria approached, he jumped off and ran towards them, jabbering excitedly.

"Mummy! Mummy! I saw a cat, walking on the path, and I wanted to catch it but Scorp said no, and it meowed at me, and then it went into the bushes there, but Elanor didn't see it because she's still asleep, and—" He paused to take a breath.

"Calm down," Astoria said, laughing. "I can't understand you when you talk that fast."

"That must have been Hugo's cat, Merlin," Rose said. "He's a bit suspicious of strangers."

"Rose, this is Orion," Astoria said, taking the hand of the little boy, who had his mother's hair colour and his father's grey eyes. "You know Scorpius, of course, and I'm sure you know Stella, as she's in your house. This," she bent to take the sleeping girl from Scorpius's arms, "is our youngest, Elanor. She's only just turned four. Normally, she has her naps in the afternoon," Astoria went on, "but what with only getting back from Cornwall this morning, and then having to get ready to come here, she's a bit tired out."

"How old is Orion?", Rose asked, as they Levitated the trunks and she led the way to the cottage.

"He'll be eight next month," Astoria answered, carrying Elanor and her bag at the same time.

Rose went into the cottage, the others following. "You can just leave the trunks in the hall for now," she said. "I'll show you round first, and then you can settle in. Over here to the right is the sitting-room, and on the left is the kitchen. There's food there, but you're welcome to come over and eat with us if you want to. Next to the kitchen, at the back, is one bathroom, and there's another one upstairs. The garden is at the back." She pointed. "Upstairs are the bedrooms, one at the front, and two at the back, one of which shares a connecting bathroom with the front room. I'll leave you to get settled in now. We'll be having lunch in an hour. If you go out through the back and round by the path, you'll reach the terrace, where we eat when we don't all fit inside." Rose grinned. "After all, nineteen people is a lot to squeeze around one dining table."

Astoria laughed. "I wouldn't want to try that. I'll see you at lunch, then?" Rose nodded and made her exit.

Back at the main house, Rose found Ginny in the kitchen, making lunch.

"Where is everybody?", Rose asked, as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"Lucy and Lily went down to the stream, Dominique is out in the garden with Molly, and Roxanne went off for some flying practice," Ginny replied, as she washed the potatoes. "Louis is doing his holiday homework, and James, Fred, Al, and Hugo have vanished upstairs—I'm not sure if I should be worried or not. Would you peel these, please, Rose?" She handed Rose the potatoes and turned to stir the sauce. "So what do you think of Astoria?", Ginny asked.

"She seems nice. And she smiles the same way Scorpius does. But how do you know her well enough to call her Astoria?"

Ginny smiled. "She was a Ravenclaw in my year at Hogwarts. We were in Charms Club together. And she's an editor at the Daily Prophet, so I see her quite often at work. We're pretty friendly, actually. We had a good relationship in our school years, considering we were in different houses. We sort of drifted apart after Hogwarts, but met each other again at the Prophet. We go out together for coffee occasionally, but I'd never met her children."

"I didn't know she had four," Rose mentioned, returning the now peeled potatoes to Ginny. "Scorpius never told me he had other siblings. Well, sort of, but since he only mentioned one sister, and that was before I knew who the letters were from, I didn't know anything about the other ones. And then when Stella arrived at Hogwarts, she got Sorted into Gryffindor! Wouldn't it be funny," Rose went on thoughtfully, "if the other two children were Sorted into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw? Then they'd have one child in each House. Although sometimes," Rose continued, getting up to stand by the sink, "I wonder why Scorpius was Sorted into Slytherin. He's more of a Gryffindor in my opinion—or even a Ravenclaw."

Ginny was about to reply, but at that moment, Hugo came in demanding food, so the conversation had to cease for the time being.

Lunch that afternoon was slightly tense. James, Fred, and Hugo, due to Ginny's threats, weren't actually saying anything, but were definitely looking plenty. Rose was doing her best to avoid looking at Scorpius, although this was particularly difficult as she was seated directly opposite him. And the looks Lucy kept sending her weren't helping. Ginny and Astoria, in an attempt to break the tension, were chattering brightly about life at the Daily Prophet, but only Dominique was paying attention. Harry tried to draw the others into a Quidditch discussion, but no one was really interested in talking except Orion, who kept up a constant stream of chatter about anything and everything which grabbed his attention.

"Mummy, when we were upstairs I saw a stream, can we go down there, Mummy, please? Elanor wants to go too, I know she does, and Stella could make us a picnic, and Scorp could make a cake like he always does, and—"

Rose had to stifle a giggle upon hearing this piece of information. It wasn't a surprise, really, that Scorpius had never mentioned his baking ability to her. The vision of Scorpius in an apron made her have to bite her lip to stop from laughing. Or, to be precise, _Scorp_ in an apron. She wouldn't be able to forget that nickname in a hurry. Orion, meanwhile, was still in full flow.

"—and we could go fishing, couldn't we, Mummy, and then cook the fish for dinner? I like fish. But I like potatoes, too. These are good," he added, turning to Ginny, "did you make them?"

Ginny smiled down at the excitable little boy. "Yes, but Rose helped."

"Not really," Rose protested. "I only peeled them—and I grated the cheese."

"Well, I like the cheese too," Orion announced. "Can I have some more, please?"

On the whole, however, lunch was a rather silent affair. Rose was thankful when the meal was over and Ginny started clearing the table.

As Scorpius got up to leave, he brushed past Rose, dropping something into her lap as he did so. Rose clutched whatever it was into her palm, excused herself, and headed upstairs. Once she had arrived in Lily's bedroom, she sat down on the bed and unfolded the note Scorpius had passed her. It read:

_Rose,_

_I wasn't exactly able to talk with you at lunch, because my dad was there (not to mention all your cousins), but maybe you know of someplace we could go this afternoon where we won't get interrupted? Owl me back._

_Scorpius_

Rose smiled. She knew just the place. She quickly wrote a reply and sent it off with her owl.

_Scorpius,_

_I'm busy this afternoon, but I'm free this evening. Meet me at six at the oak tree by the stream at the bottom of the garden, and I'll show you a place I know._

_Rose_

Just as she closed the window after sending Artemis off with the letter, Lily stuck her head through the trap door and called: "Rose? Are you up here?"

Rose came out of Lily's attic bedroom onto the landing. "No, Lily, I'm downstairs."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, Rose, very funny. Ready to go?"

"Nearly. Just let me grab my stuff." Rose found her purse, checked that there were Galleons inside, slipped on her shoes, and declared herself ready.

The two girls were going into Diagon Alley for the afternoon for some "cousin bonding time", as Lily put it. Knowing Lily, it would almost definitely involve shopping.

The girls headed downstairs, said goodbye to Ginny, and stepped into the fireplace, taking a handful of Floo powder as they went.

"Diagon Alley!"

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><p><strong>AN: That's the first time I've split a chapter into two parts when I meant to have it all at once. But this chapter was just so long, I thought if I didn't split it, I probably wouldn't have updated on time. I will try to get the second half of the chapter out before November.**

**BTW, is anyone else on here doing NaNoWriMo? Just randomly wondering...**

**And one more thing: reviews might tip the balance between updating in October and updating in December...**


	23. Diagon Alley

**A/N: *trumpet blast* Da-da-da-daaa! I'm back! NaNoWriMo is now over, I have written a 50,473 word novel, and I now have time to work on this again.**

**Since it's been so long since the last update, I'm sure you've all forgotten what the story's about, so-**

**Just kidding. I hope you haven't. But to save you going back to check the end of the last chapter, quick recap: the Malfoys arrived at the Potters' house, there was a highly awkward lunch, Rose and Scorpius agreed to meet down by the stream later, and Rose and Lily have just taken the Floo network to Diagon Alley.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Rose stepped out of the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron first, Lily swiftly following.<p>

When they had dusted themselves off, Rose asked: "Where do you think we should head first?"

"I figured we could start at Quality Quidditch Supplies, since it's Louis' birthday in three days, and I want to get him some new gloves. Then I promised Uncle George we'd stop by at the shop, and after that we have the fitting for the bridesmaids' dresses to go to." Rose was about to protest, but the look on Lily's face stopped her. "After that, and only after that, we can go to Flourish and Blott's. Then we'll finish up back here again for a Butterbeer or possibly some tea. Sound good?"

"Yup. Let's get going, then."

They headed down the street to Quality Quidditch Supplies, enjoying the fresh spring breeze and the busy bustle of the shoppers around them. Once in the store, Lily went to choose the gloves, while Rose browsed through the racks of Quidditch magazines. She was reading a description of the newest Meteor model, the Meteor 650, when Lily tapped her on the arm.

"Alright, Rose, I've got them. We should go to the shop next, since Uncle George said he'd only be in until four."

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was visible from three blocks away, due to its bright colours and attention-grabbing posters. It covered three buildings now, and George and Angelina were thinking of extending the Hogsmeade branch as well.

Rose and Lily wove through the crowds of excited customers, heading for the rooms at the back.

They went through a door marked "Staff only", and Lily called up a staircase, "Auntie Angelina? Uncle George?"

Angelina appeared at the top of the stairs, calling over her shoulder to someone behind her, "And don't forget, we need to stock up on Stickit Sweets, they're going like crazy…" She broke off when she saw the girls. "Rose! Lily! How are you?" Angelina hurried down the stairs and gave them each a hug. "Roxanne's upstairs; she'll be down soon, she's just finishing up this week's sales records. And George was called out to help a customer, he'll be back in a minute."

Angelina led the way through the rows of shelves and past various doors marked "Danger: Experiments" and "Enter at your own risk". She ushered them through another door at the end, into a cosy little room with armchairs, tables, and a crackling fireplace. It had another door on the other side which led through into the shop beyond.

"You two sit down, and I'll go find George and Roxanne," Angelina said as she left again.

Rose and Lily sat down on a sofa in front of the fire. A few minutes later, Angelina came back in, followed by her husband and daughter. They settled themselves on chairs around the fire.

"I've asked Emily to bring us tea," George said. "So how's school going, girls?"

"Oh, it's okay," Lily replied. "My Potions mark has gotten better this year, and I think that's mainly due to Professor Spinnet."

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten that Alicia took the post of Potions Professor. What happened to the other one you had?"

"Professor Bletchley? He got ill with bronchitis and had to go away for his health," Rose answered. "I think everyone but the Slytherins was glad to see the last of him. Professor Spinnet's much better."

"You know, it always surprised me that Alicia never followed a Quidditch career," Angelina said thoughtfully. "She was a Chaser for Gryffindor, you know, and I always thought she was good enough to at least join the Ballycastle Bats, or even the Falmouth Falcons. But she never wanted to."

"Katie, on the other hand, was a rising star in the Holyhead Harpies after the war," George put in. "But then she dropped out when she got pregnant with the twins."

"Who do you think is going to be on the national team for the world Cup this year?" Roxanne asked. "It's a bit annoying that they don't let the public know until the Cup actually begins."

They talked on about Quidditch for the next half hour.

At four o'clock, George stood up. "Well, I would love to stay longer, but I've got a meeting with a prospective shareholder, so I have to go. I'll see you girls on Thursday, I guess, since I'm not coming to the rehearsal."

He gave Angelina a kiss, and left. Rose, Lily, and Roxanne decided to leave as well, since they had to be at Madam Malkin's at quarter past. Angelina bid them goodbye, and hurried back out into the shop.

The three girls meandered down the street, chatting about the upcoming wedding. Around them, the bustle of busy shoppers and people out for the day never slowed. Rose had to suppress a chuckle at the thick Irish accents of a family just coming out of Gringotts. Dominique was outside Madam Malkin's when they walked up.

"Maman and Victoire are inside already, but I had to escape from the endless chatter." She rolled her eyes. "And now that you've arrived, I guess I'll have to go in and face it. I'll be glad when the wedding's over, I can tell you."

"Is Lucy here yet?", Rose asked, as they entered the shop.

The tinkling of a little bell on the door brought Madam Malkin hurrying over to them. "Yes, dears?", she chirped.

"No, but she ought to be here soon," Dominique said over her shoulder as she approached the proprietress. "Hello—we're with the Weasley party?"

"Of course, dear. Right this way."

For all her age, Madam Malkin was still quite spry. She led them through the racks of robes and showed them into a room at the back. "I'll be with you in just a minute," she said brightly, as she ushered them through the door.

The room beyond had a wall lined with mirrors. It also held two very excited French people. The moment the girls walked in, Victoire hurled herself at them, jabbering even faster than she normally did. Fleur followed, not talking nearly as fast as her daughter, but still very quickly. Traces of her French accent, which only came out now when she was nervous or excited, were evident. Rose giggled at the look of concealed martyrdom on Dom's face. She could tell that Dominique would rather be anywhere else.

Five minutes later, Lucy arrived, and Madam Malkin came bustling in after her. The trying on of dresses began.

Rose's feet were aching from standing on the little wooden stool when Madam Malkin, at last, pronounced her done. Rose thankfully took off her bridesmaid's dress, careful not to scratch herself or dislodge any pins, and handed it to the assistant standing nearby. Lily had already finished, so the two of them said goodbye to the others and went next door to Flourish and Blott's, where Rose spent an enjoyable half hour browsing.

Finally they headed back down the street to the Leaky Cauldron, which was flourishing as usual.

As they made their way through to the bar, Rose asked, "What time is it?"

"Just past five. Two Butterbeers, please."

This last was to the barmaid, who smiled and reached under the counter to get the bottles. "Four Galleons, please."

They paid, took the bottles, and went to find an unoccupied table. When they were seated in a corner, Lily turned to Rose.

"Hey, Rose. Guess what!"

Rose looked warily at her cousin. "Er…you arranged this trip on our own because you wanted to talk to me about something?"

Lily pretended to be astonished. "You know me too well."

Rose chuckled. "Yeah…we don't need any 'cousin bonding time', as you put it," she said, making quotation marks in the air with her fingers. "So what was it you wanted, Lily?"

"To know who you fancy."

Rose choked on her Butterbeer. "No—no one."

Lily gave her a patronizing look. "Rose dear…" She sighed. "It's obvious that you fancy someone."

"It's what?" Rose looked shocked.

Lily hastened to reassure her. "Only to people who know you well. Most people probably wouldn't notice. But those of us who do know you are able to tell the difference. You're a bit more absent-minded than you used to be, you blush easier, you get distracted a lot—so who is it?"

"Promise you won't tell?"

"Ok."

Rose looked down at the table, fiddling around with the cork from her Butterbeer bottle. "Scorpius Malfoy."

Lily spit Butterbeer all over the table.

"Ew, Lily, that's disgusting. _Scourgify_."

When Lily had recovered, she stared disbelievingly at her cousin. "Malfoy? Seriously?"

"That's the reaction Aunt Ginny had when I told her. And his name's Scorpius," Rose added irritably.

"You're on first-name terms with him?" Lily said incredulously.

"We've been friends since third year. And I went to both dances with him."

"You've been—since third year—both dances—" Lily was not even able to form full sentences. "And how long have you fancied him?" she asked, when she had regained her ability to talk.

"Since about fourth year."

"Oh," was all Lily managed. After a moment, she seemed to have recovered, for she added, with a twinkle in her eye, "I can't wait to see what Uncle Ron thinks."

"Don't mention it," Rose said with a shudder. "I can wait, thanks. Enough about me for now. How's it going with you and Roger?"

"It's going okay," Lily answered slowly. "But sometimes…I don't know…he seems different, somehow. Almost as if he were," she paused, "bored or something." She looked anxious.

Rose chuckled. "As if anyone could be bored with you around. Whatever else you are, you aren't boring."

"I could say the same for you," Lily laughed. She pulled out her watch and checked the time. "Speaking of Roger, I just remembered I'm supposed to be meeting him at Tina's Tea Shop in ten minutes."

"Well, that's good," Rose said, "because I have plans for this evening too."

"Do they involve a certain blonde Slytherin?" Lily asked with a smirk.

Rose smiled mysteriously. "They might."

"By the way, who else knows?" Lily asked as they went over to the fireplace.

"Just your mum, Lucy, and Emma. See you later, Lily. Have fun!" Rose stepped into the fireplace, taking a handful of Floo powder. "Potter residence!"

One hot and ashy journey later, Rose stepped out of the hallway fireplace, getting ashes all over the rug as she did so. She walked down the hallway to the kitchen, where she found Ginny at the stove.

"Hi, Ginny," Rose said, seating herself at the kitchen table.

"Hi, Rose. Lily off with Roger?"

"Yup."

"How was your day? Or afternoon, rather."

"Pretty good. We stopped by at the shop, and the dress fittings took less than an hour. And when we were at the Leaky Cauldron Lily made me tell her about Scorpius." Rose laughed. "But I know I can trust her to keep a secret. So how was your afternoon?"

"Quiet, actually. Everyone was off doing their own stuff. By the way, the Scamanders are coming over for supper tonight."

"Well, er," Rose began, "actually, I was thinking of asking you if I could take a picnic down to the other side of the stream this evening?"

"Alone?" Ginny asked, her eyes twinkling.

"Well…not exactly…I'm meeting Scorpius down by the oak tree at six," Rose finished in a rush.

Ginny laughed. "Alright, Rose. Make your picnic. I'll even cover for you."

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Ginny hurried down the hall to the door, with Rose behind her.

"Hi, Luna," Ginny said, opening the door. "Come on in. Where's Rolf?" she added, as Luna and the twins walked in.

"He had to work late, he'll be here at six thirty," Luna said. "We think we've discovered a new strain of Nargles in Venezuela."

They went into the living room and sat down.

"Where are Lily and Hugo?" Lysander asked.

"Hugo's out by the Quidditch pitch, and Lily's out for the evening with Roger," Ginny answered.

Lorcan and Lysander excused themselves to go find Hugo. Rose went to the kitchen to make her picnic, leaving Ginny and Luna in the living room.

Rose had finished making the sandwiches, and was looking for a basket to put them in, when she heard the fireplace crackle. Expecting to see Harry back from work, and already mentally preparing explanations as to why she was preparing a two-person picnic, Rose turned around to see, stumbling out of the fireplace, none other than Lily. But not the cheerful, happy Lily Rose had left in Diagon Alley twenty minutes earlier. No, this was a tear-stained, sobbing Lily, who barely seemed to see where she was going as she fumbled her way to a chair and sat down.

"Lily—what happened?" Rose asked, shocked.

Lily's words were muffled by sobs. "Roger—he—he broke up with me."

Rose' feelings of shock changed to anger, and then to sympathy. She walked over and gave Lily a hug.

When Lily had calmed down a bit, Rose asked, "Did he—did he say why?"

Lily cried harder. "He said—he didn't really—have romantic feelings for me anymore and that he—felt that we'd be better off just—just friends. And then he hoped I—understood."

At that moment, Lorcan came into the kitchen. "Hey, is Hugo in—Lily, are you okay?" he asked, his tone of voice changing suddenly.

"Roger broke up with me," Lily said, still crying.

Lorcan crossed the kitchen in two steps and gave Lily a hug. He didn't say anything for a bit, just held her until she had stopped crying.

When she had calmed down somewhat, he said, "I'm sure you feel terrible right now, but you'll be all right. I promise."

"Re-really?" Lily hiccupped.

Lorcan looked down at her. "Trust me."

The two of them didn't even seem to notice as Rose quietly put her sandwiches into a bag and hastily made her exit. Rose chuckled to herself as she hurried down through the garden towards the stream. It looked as though Lily would get over Roger fairly well—especially with the help of a certain fifteen-year-old.

She found Scorpius waiting down by the oak. "Hey, Rose," he said cheerfully as she came up. "Long time no see."

"Yeah, since lunch," Rose laughed. "It's been hours, in fact." She rolled her eyes at him.

Scorpius chuckled. "You know what I meant. It's not like we were able to talk properly at lunch anyway, what with my family and all of yours. So where are we going?"

"To a meadow I found once when I was off on one of my cross-country rambles. It's not too far away."

They turned left and headed upstream, talking as they went.

After about five minutes of walking, they came to an old log that was used as a bridge. Rose crossed first, Scorpius right behind her. About halfway across, Rose slipped. Scorpius caught her around the waist just before she fell.

"Thanks," she panted, leaning against him as she regained her balance.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine now," Rose said.

Suddenly she realized what she was doing. Blushing slightly, she quickly let go of Scorpius and finished crossing.

Turning left again, they continued upstream for a bit before Rose changed direction, making for a forest that was about a quarter of a mile away.

"Nearly there," Rose said as they approached it.

Scorpius looked puzzled. "But I thought you said we were going to a meadow."

Rose smiled. "We are. Follow me."

They pressed deeper into the trees. Scorpius looked more and more confused as the woods got thicker.

"Rose, are you sure this is the right—" He broke off.

All around them, the trees were as thick as ever, but just in front they opened up into a little glade filled with flowers. A shaft of sunlight fell through the gap in the trees above, making the grass shine brightly, turning the flowers into glowing jewels, setting Rose's hair on fire and turning Scorpius's to a gleaming gold. They stood in silence for a moment.

"Wow," Scorpius said at last.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Rose said.

"Yeah. But not as beautiful as you," he added under his breath.

"What was that?" Rose asked.

"Nothing," Scorpius said quickly, blushing slightly. "Shall we eat now?"

"Boys," Rose laughed. "Always thinking about food. Actually, I'm hungry, too. I was going to bring a blanket or something to sit on, but I forgot."

Scorpius pointed his wand at a spot in the center of the glade. "_Stragulum Apparere_."

Immediately a soft, comfortable-looking blanket appeared.

Rose looked impressed. "I need to learn that spell."

They sat down, and Rose slung the bag with the sandwiches off of her shoulder. They both reached for a sandwich at the same time. Scorpius's hand closed over Rose's, and in the split second before he withdrew it, Rose found herself thinking what a nice feeling it was. But he took his hand off immediately, stammering apologies. Rose sighed under her breath. Better luck next time, she thought to herself.

They finished eating without further incident. As they were getting ready to go back, Rose shivered a little. April evenings were chilly, after all.

"What's the matter?" Scorpius asked, noticing. "Cold?"

Rose nodded. "A bit," she admitted.

Scorpius took off his jumper and handed it to her.

"You shouldn't," Rose protested, when she saw what he was doing. "I'm fine, really."

But Scorpius insisted, so Rose took his jumper and put it on. Inwardly, she was revelling in the warmth and the way it smelled faintly of Scorpius.

They walked back along the stream, enjoying the busy silence of the night-time countryside.

When they came within sight of the house, Rose took off Scorpius's jumper and handed it back to him.

"I'd better not go inside wearing this," she chuckled, "or my cousins might start asking awkward questions."

Scorpius took it, smiling. "Thanks for taking me there, Rose."

"You're welcome." Rose blushed slightly again. "Good night, Scorpius."

"Good night, Rose."

She turned and went up the garden path, smiling to herself as she went. It had definitely been a wonderful evening.

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><p><strong>AN: I'm not sure about some bits of this chapter, but I hope it all sounded all right. My next update will be as soon as possible. As always, reviews motivate me!**


	24. Family chaos

**A/N: I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update. And I have an unfortunate announcement to make.**

**Because I have a lot of other stories that are clamoring to be written, as well as a 50,000+-word novel that I really really need to start editing, I am going to be taking a break from this story. I do have more written, and I will continue it eventually, but right now I need to edit my novel, so please do not expect anything before mid-February or possibly even March. I'm very sorry.**

**That said, I hope you all enjoy this chapter more than I do, because bits of it feel wrong somehow. And the end of it is kind of rushed, because I was getting tired of detailing everything and didn't feel like writing out the entire afternoon.**

**But I do think the chapter title is fairly appropriate. It took me forever to decide!**

**I will now conclude this long author's note and let you get on with the last chapter you'll be getting for a while. **

**:-(**

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><p>Rose opened her eyes to find Lily sprawled across the carpet, having apparently just tripped over the open trunk in the middle of the room.<p>

"Lily, are you okay?" Rose enquired sleepily.

"Yeah," Lily said, standing up. "I'm such a klutz sometimes. I didn't mean to wake you," she added ruefully.

"I need to get up anyway," Rose yawned. Then she glanced at the clock. "Lily," she shrieked, jumping out of bed. "We're leaving in an hour, and I haven't gotten ready, and I need to shower, and eat breakfast too, and why didn't you wake me up in time?" Rose began getting ready for her shower as fast as she could.

"Rose, relax," Lily said. "You're seventeen now, remember."

Rose stared at her cousin. What did that have to do with—oh. Of course. She could use magic. Sheepishly, she finished gathering her stuff more slowly and disappeared into the bathroom.

Twenty minutes and one hot shower later, she walked into the kitchen downstairs to find Ginny at the stove making pancakes, and people walking around in various stages of getting ready. James especially looked rather funny in his pyjamas with moving Snitches all over them.

"Morning, Aunt Ginny."

"Morning, Rose. Sit down and grab a plate."

"James, move over," Lily ordered, coming in behind Rose.

The two girls sat down and started eating. Harry came wandering in, carrying a silver box.

"Morning," he greeted the chaos. "Ginny, what's this and where should I put it?"

The box rattled slightly as he dropped it on the countertop.

Ginny squealed. "Harry James Potter!" James looked up guiltily, realized his mother wasn't shouting at him, and went back to his breakfast. Ginny, meanwhile, continued. "Those are Mum's champagne glasses! If you break them…"

Fred, leaning against the fridge, chuckled at the look on Harry's face as he envisioned Molly Weasley and Ginny Potter both shouting at him. Ginny picked the box up carefully and left the kitchen.

"I'll pack them," she called over her shoulder as she went

. Rose chuckled. "Beware of how you act around Aunt Ginny when she's stressed," she said.

Harry looked puzzled. "She's stressed?"

"Yeah." Rose rolled her eyes. "Look." She swept her hand around the kitchen. "James is still in his pyjamas, Al isn't even up yet, no one but Louis has finished breakfast, we're all still trying to get together all the stuff we need to take for the wedding, and we have to leave in half an hour. And then you come in and throw Nan's cut glass heirlooms on the counter!"

Harry looked slightly sheepish. "Maybe I wasn't quite as tactful as I could have been."

"You could say that."

Rose finished her milk and went upstairs again. That was the only thing wrong with Lily's room; it was on the top floor. She saw Ginny going into Al's room on the second floor as she passed. Well, at least he'd gotten half an hour more sleep than the rest of them. Rose went into Lily's room, found her bag, and starting finding the stuff she would need for the day. They were driving down together for the rehearsal that afternoon, coming home that evening, and then in two days' time driving back to the Burrow for the wedding itself. She had just finished when Lily came in, plaiting her hair as she went. Lily grabbed her bag and the two of them climbed down the ladder from the third floor into the second floor's large hallway, where they could hear groans emitting from Al's room as Ginny, judging by the sounds, pulled the covers off.

Lily chuckled as they went past. "I love it when Mum's mad at someone else," she said gleefully.

They walked down the remaining two flights of stairs and headed out the front door, where they were confronted by the sight of Orion actually standing still for once, his mother's hand firmly on his shoulder, as Harry carefully backed the large blue fifteen-seater up to the front steps. As he parked, Fred, Roxanne, Lucy, and Hugo came out of the cottage to the right.

Ginny came hurrying out of the main house. "Fred, there you are. Come with me, I need you help."

Looking slightly bemused, Fred followed his slightly irritated-looking aunt.

"If this has anything to do with Al sleeping in, it should be interesting," Lily muttered to Rose. "Let's go and see the fun."

They followed Ginny and Fred up the spiral staircase to the first floor, where Ginny paused and whispered at length into her nephew's ear. Fred's face lit up, and he nodded. They proceeded up to the second floor, talking loudly as they went.

"Hey Aunt Ginny, is Albus up yet?"

"You know, Fred, I'm not sure. I've woken him several times, but whether or not he's out of bed is quite a different matter."

"Well, he needs to get up soon."

"You're right, Fred." By then they were right outside Al's room. "Why don't you go and see if you can wake him?"

Fred chuckled. "I can try."

Suddenly there was a loud thump from Al's room, and then a voice muttered, "Oh no, don't send Fred in here. I'm up, I'm up!" Al said irritably, and yet sounding slightly panicky, as Ginny knocked.

"Wonderful, I was just coming to check on you," Ginny said sweetly. Then she glared at the closed door. "And you'd better be downstairs in less than ten minutes, Albus Severus Potter, or you'll be wishing you had been!" She turned sharply and marched downstairs, still annoyed.

"Blimey," Fred said, looking after Ginny with a mixture of shock and awe on his face. "Remind me never to get on the wrong side of her."

Fred, Rose, and Lily went downstairs, leaving Albus and his sleepy complaints behind them. They emerged into the front yard to find almost everyone in the van already, only the three of them, Al, and Ginny having not yet taken their seats. Harry was just finding space for the last bag as they arrived.

"Hop in," he said, gesturing at the open door. Rose climbed in to find Roxanne, Stella, James, and Hugo in the back, Astoria, Elanor, and Orion in front of them, Lucy at the window in the next row, and Scorpius behind the passenger seat. Rose started to sit down next to Lucy, and then jumped out again.

"What is it?" Harry asked as she ran past him.

"Forgot my camera," she called over her shoulder.

It took her a good five minutes to reach the third floor, grab her camera from where she had left it on Lily's desk, and get back downstairs again. By the time she reached the van, Al had made it out of bed and he and Fred were sitting next to Lucy. Ginny was in the front next to Harry, which only left—Rose groaned inwardly—the seat next to Scorpius.

Lily, of course, made no move to get in first, merely sending a smirk in Rose's direction as she stood by the door of the van. Sighing under her breath, Rose got in and sat down next to Scorpius. Lily took the seat next to her, leaned over, and slid the door shut.

"Well, I think we're all here now," Ginny said.

"No we're not," James said from the very back. "Where's Louis? And Dominique and Molly?"

"As you can see, James, the van is full, so they will be Apparating there, along with Draco. Now please, Harry, let's go, before anyone else feels the need to delay us even further."

Ginny turned and looked pointedly at Al, who squirmed slightly and attempted to duck down behind Rose. Because he was quite a bit taller than she was—5 foot 11 to her 5 foot 4—it didn't exactly work.

"Seatbelts, everyone!" Harry called out as he started the engine.

The van turned, narrowly avoiding one of the Flutterby bushes, and rolled out of the driveway.

As they pulled onto the main road, Albus said from behind Rose, "Hey, Mum, how long will it take us to get there?"

"About three hours. We were aiming to get there at twelve thirty, but I don't think we'll be there before lunch at one. The rehearsal is at two thirty."

"When will we be home again?" Lily asked. "I've got some stuff I was hoping to do this evening."

"That depends on how long we stay. Not before eleven, if we stay for supper."

"Couldn't Molly or Dom take me earlier, by Side-Along Apparition?"

Ginny turned around to look at her daughter. "What do you need to do so pressingly that it can't wait for tomorrow?" she enquired, raising her eyebrows.

"Just…stuff…I promised a friend I'd do," Lily muttered, avoiding her mother's eyes.

Ginny gave Lily another piercing glance, then dropped the subject. Lily gave a small sigh of relief.

"What's going on, Lily?" Rose asked under cover of the Quidditch debate Fred and Al had started in the back.

"I'll tell you later," Lily said. "It's not that important, anyway."

Rose gave Lily a sceptical look, and opened her mouth to say that it sounded as though it was quite important, actually. But she was interrupted by a piece of parchment being dropped on her lap. Rose turned to her left to see Scorpius pretending to casually gaze out the window. Mystified, she unfolded the note he had slipped her.

_Are we going to sit like this for the whole journey?_

Rose rummaged around in her bag and extracted a quill.

_What do you mean?_

_I mean sitting in silence, ignoring each other._

_Scorpius, think a little. Fred, James, Al, and Hugo are all in the van with us. It wouldn't be the smartest of moves to suddenly start having a normal conversation._

_Who says they'll notice? As far as I can tell, they're busy contesting the merits of Puddlemere United versus the Falmouth Falcons._

_Oh, they'll notice, believe me._

_You're going to have to let your family know about our friendship at some point._

_I know. I will eventually, but the time isn't right. And besides, Ginny, Lucy, and Lily already know. And I'm planning on telling Mum sometime soon._

_Good, because I've already told mine._

_You what?!_

_Told Mum about us being friends. She doesn't mind, and she promised she wouldn't say anything to Dad about it before I do._

_That's alright then. So when are you planning on telling your father?_

_When you tell yours._

_Why? So that we can enjoy being in trouble together?_

_Oh, ha ha, very funny, Rose._

_I wasn't joking._

_I thought you were…_

_Nope. We'd better stop now, I'm afraid someone's going to notice something._

_If you say so._

The rest of the drive passed uneventfully.

They arrived at the Burrow at a quarter to one to find people standing around in the yard chatting, others setting up tables, and inside the house, about a dozen more running around doing things. Molly Weasley Sr. was right in the midst of all the chaos, looking perfectly calm.

"Hello, Ginny dear," she called as they got out of the van. "Harry, so good to see you and the children again." Molly's hair was now streaked with silver, and she had a pair of glasses perched on the end of her nose, but she was as warm and welcoming as ever. "Rose dear," she added, giving her granddaughter a hug, "good to see you. Your mother's in the living room, she said she wanted to see you as soon as you got here."

"Alright. Thanks, Nan."

Rose slipped through a cluster of Victoire's cousins and headed inside, where she found her mother holding an energetic conversation with someone in the fireplace.

"Look, I know the meeting with the goblins is important," Hermione was saying as Rose entered, "but can't we put it off for a few days? My niece's wedding is the day after tomorrow and I'm fairly busy with the preparations." She turned to smile at Rose as the latter sat down on one of the sofas. "Be with you in a moment, Rose."

"Dagrod says he's busy all next month," the person in the Floo connection said.

Hermione sighed. "Well, if I must. I'll be there at two." The man she was talking to nodded and vanished from the fireplace with a small 'pop'.

"What was that about, Mum?" Rose asked as Hermione got up from her kneeling position on the hearth rug.

"I've got an emergency meeting this afternoon which I can't put off. But I don't have to leave until after lunch. So," she sat down next to Rose, "how's school been?"

Rose launched into a description of her classes, what they were studying, her grades, and then gave her mother a detailed description of their last Quidditch match, in which the Gryffindor team had beaten Ravenclaw by a margin of thirty points.

"So that means that if Hufflepuff beat Slytherin by at least fifty, then we've got a chance, even though we lost our game against Slytherin. Our last game is against Hufflepuff, so it all depends on how they do in their next match," Rose finished.

"Sounds exciting," Hermione commented. "Anything else happen since Christmas that you haven't written about?"

Rose shifted around slightly. "Well," she admitted, "there was one more thing I was planning on telling you…"

Hermione chuckled. "It wouldn't have anything to do with a boy, by any chance?"

Rose, who had been gazing at the fireplace, whipped her head around. "How much did Ginny tell you?" she demanded.

Her mother laughed outright on the indignant look on Rose's face. "Ginny hasn't said anything. But you remind me a bit of the way I was in my sixth year."

"Was that when you first realized how you felt about Dad?" Rose asked interestedly.

"Sort of. That was when I first openly admitted it to myself. But I—look at me, going off track again. Anyway, back to you. Tell me: what's his name? Do I know him? What's he like? How long have you fancied him?"

"Mum, slow down," Rose protested. "One question at a time."

"Alright," Hermione said, still smiling. "First things first: who? No wait, let me guess. Is he in your year?"

"Yes."

"Do I know him?"

"I don't think so."

"Do I know his parents?"

"Ummm…yeah, sort of."

"Were they in my year at Hogwarts?"

"His dad was. His mum was two years below you."

"That's not much help," Hermione muttered, "as the only girls I knew in that year were Romilda Vane, who didn't have any children, and Amelia Diggory, who married Anthony Goldstein. It's not their son Luther, is it?"

"Nope."

"Ok, let me try another track. Is he a Gryffindor?"

"No."

"A Ravenclaw then?"

"No."

"A Hufflepuff. But which one?"

"Er, Mum?"

"Yes?"

"He's, er, not a Hufflepuff."

Hermione looked surprised. "A Slytherin?"

Rose rolled her eyes to conceal her nervousness. "As it's the only house left, the answer's kind of obvious."

"And his father was in my year…" Hermione said. "Was his father a Slytherin too?"

"Yes. And his mother was a Ravenclaw."

Hermione thought for a moment. At last she said, "You know what, Rose? Just tell me. I haven't got a clue."

"You've got several, actually," Rose pointed out. "Alright. Don't tell Dad though."

"Of course I won't."

"Scorpius."

"Draco's son?"

Rose was getting rather tired of this reaction.

"Yes, Mum, there's no one else in my year called Scorpius."

There was silence for a minute.

"How long have you—" Hermione began, but she was interrupted by Roxanne sticking her head through the door to announce that lunch was ready.

"Oh, sorry, did I interrupt something?" she added, seeing the two of them alone in the room.

"Not really," Hermione said, getting up. "We'll talk more later, Rose. But now, let's go get something to eat before your father consumes it all."

Rose laughed, and allowed herself to be pulled up to a standing position. The two of them headed out into the garden, where several tables were set up, all now full of food. Rose sat down between Lily and Lucy, and began eating.

About halfway through the meal, Roxanne, who was sitting across from them, broke off her conversation with Dominique and turned to Rose.

"Girls," she said, including Lucy, Dominique, and Lily, "don't mention this to anyone else, but I think Fred has a girlfriend."

"He what?"

"How did you find out?"

"Do you know who?"

"I don't know who yet, but I'm doing my best to find out. As for how I know…well, Fred's been acting odd since Christmas. His letters are all about the shop and almost nothing about his personal life, and when I visited him for a week in February he kept acting distracted, and was owling with someone, and he wouldn't tell me who, almost every day. And you know how when James and Emma started going out, Fred was always teasing James about her? He's stopped doing that, too."

Rose, Lily, Dominique, and Lucy all stared at each other, and then all turned at the same time to look at Fred, who was sitting at the other end of the table. He certainly looked the same. But all of Roxy's clues definitely added up to the fact that something was going on.

"This doesn't really have anything to do with that, but Uncle Harry's been acting funny lately too," Lucy said.

"Yeah," Rose agreed. "Why does he need to be 'up to standard'? What standard? It almost sounds like he's going to try out for a Quidditch team or something."

Lily looked startled. "He did get a letter from Demelza Robins the other week," she admitted. "You know, the captain of the Falmouth Falcons. He wouldn't tell us what it said, and went off to talk privately with Mum."

"But why would he want to join the Falcons?" Roxanne said. "He's Head Auror."

"And what's more," Lucy added, "I thought he supported the Kenmare Kestrels."

"Good point," Dominique laughed. "And since they've lost to the Falcons three years running, I doubt he'll suddenly join the Falcons now. But you're right, it is odd."

Just then, Hermione came hurrying over. "I have to go, Rose," she said, giving her daughter a hug. "I'll see you Thursday, all right? And maybe we'll find time to continue our earlier conversation." She smiled, waved at everyone, and Disapparated.

Lucy looked longingly at the place where her aunt had stood. "I can't wait until I can Apparate," she said.

"Since we've only had five lessons, Lu, it would be kind of surprising if you could do it as well as Mum," Rose remarked.

She herself had only managed it during their last lesson before they had left, and then only once.

They finished lunch around two. The rehearsal afterwards went smoothly.

They played a game of Quidditch before dinner; Rose, Teddy, Ginny, Fred, Roxanne, Louis, and Harry against James, Lily, Dominique, Lucy, George, Albus, and Ron. Harry's team won by 150 points, but it had been a very close game. Each team had had 190 when Harry and Albus had spotted the Snitch, and Harry, despite having an older broom, had been just that much faster.

Then came another one of Molly Weasley's feasts, followed by a riotous game of Exploding Snap.

Finally, at eight thirty, Ginny said it was time to go. There was a round of goodbyes, and then they all piled into the van. Three hours later, they pulled into the driveway of the Potters' house.

Rose sleepily said good night to everyone and headed up to the third floor. She found Lily sitting at her desk, writing a letter, with her owl Aldara perched next to her hooting softly.

"Li—Lily?" Rose yawned. "What are you doing?"

Lily jumped. "Nothing."

Rose got into bed. "Might this 'nothing' have something to do with the fact that you wanted to be home early?" she inquired from the depths of her pillow.

Lily didn't reply. Rose smiled.

"You did say you'd tell me," she said.

"I'll tell you tomorrow," Lily muttered. "Good night, Rose."

"Good night."


	25. Victoire's wedding

**A/N: I'm back! My novel is edited almost completely, with only a few glitches to straighten out, and I've just returned from a month-long holiday in Costa Rica, so I now have time to work on this again. :-)**

**This is my favourite chapter so far. It's so...well, read it and see for yourself.**

* * *

><p>Rose woke up early on Thursday morning. She lay still for a moment, listening to the silence of a sleeping household. Quietly, so as not to wake Lily, she got out of bed and got dressed. Kneeling on the window seat, she unlatched the window and pushed it open. A breath of fresh morning air came in, bearing with it the sounds of birds in the garden. Rose looked out. Below her she could see the lawn stretching away to the stream, whose soft rippling noise mingled with the rustling of the Flutterby Bushes dotted here and there.<p>

A movement to the right, where the Quidditch pitch lay among the trees, caught her eye. Rose studied it for a minute, and then smiled. She closed the window and tiptoed downstairs, pausing in the kitchen to grab an apple. Then she slipped out the back door and headed for the broom shed.

She took her Lightning bolt 300 off of the rack and made her way through the trees towards the pitch. When she reached the edge of the clearing, she threw her leg over her broom and soared into the air.

"Rose! You startled me."

Rose grinned. "Good morning to you too, Scorpius. I see I'm not the only early riser around here."

"I've been up for a good half hour," Scorpius said. "And since no one else was up, I decided to do some flying."

"Bet I can fly faster than you."

"Bet you can't," Scorpius retorted.

"I'll race you," Rose said. "From the far end of the pitch to the oak tree at the bottom of the garden."

"But if we fly above the trees, won't we be seen?"

"First of all, the nearest Muggle village is a mile away, second, it's way too early for anyone to be about anyway, and third, there are charms round the house to prevent Muggles from seeing anything out of the ordinary."

"Alright," Scorpius laughed.

The two of them swung their brooms around and headed for the far end of the pitch.

"From the ground or hovering?" Scorpius asked as they pulled to a stop.

"From the ground," Rose said. "We've even got a starting line marked. We race a lot," she added as they landed.

The two of them lined up next to each other. Rose pulled out her wand and made a complicated wiggling motion. A long blue beam of light shot out and, hovering in the air above them, formed itself into a large number ten.

"What's that?" Scorpius enquired, as it changed.

9.

8.

"Countdown spell," Rose answered, getting ready to fly.

6.

5.

Scorpius mounted his broom.

3.

2.

1.

The spell changed into a 0, which glowed bright gold before exploding in a shower of sparks. They were off.

Rose had an advantage, because she had flown the course so many times, but Scorpius had started a split second before she had. They zoomed up over the trees, and turned and headed for the far end of the garden. They touched down at exactly the same time.

Rose toppled off her broom and onto the grass. "I haven't flown that fast since our game against Slytherin last year," she panted.

Scorpius looked down at her and chuckled. "Want a hand?" he asked, holding his out.

Rose took it and let herself be pulled to her feet. She smiled. "Good race."

"You can fly awfully quickly," Scorpius said. He added, with a smirk, "Especially for a girl."

"Scorpius!" Rose laughingly attempted to slap him, but he dodged away and ran up the garden, laughing over his shoulder at her as he went.

Rose darted after him. "You'll…pay for that," she panted, chasing him around the bench and up the path.

Suddenly she tripped over something and fell. Luckily, she landed on the grass and not the paving stones. Scorpius came running back at once.

"What happened?"

"I tripped."

"Over what?"

"I don't know… I think it might have been a gnome." Rose slowly stood up. Then she suddenly flung herself at Scorpius, knocking him down. "I told you you'd pay for that!" she said, starting to tickle him.

"No—stop—please!" Scorpius gasped, through his laughter.

"Say that girls are just as good at flying as boys are," Rose ordered, still tickling him mercilessly.

"Alright, they are…can I—can I get up now?"

"Say it!"

"Okay! Girls are just as—good at flying as—boys."

Rose stopped tickling him and moved back to let him stand up. Scorpius gave her a mock glare.

"You don't want to know what I would do to you if you weren't so nice."

"What?"

Scorpius considered it for a moment. "I don't actually know either," he admitted.

Rose laughed. "Random question," she said, lifting her head and sniffing the air. "Do I smell bacon?"

"Mmmm…I think so. It's coming from your house, unfortunately."

"I would invite you in for breakfast, but…"

"…it's maybe not the best of ideas," Scorpius finished.

"Well," Rose said, getting up, "I've got to go, I guess. See you later!"

"See you."

Rose ran up the garden, pausing at the back porch to turn and wave to Scorpius, who responded likewise. Then she headed inside. She followed her nose to the kitchen.

"…and what Ron's going to say is anybody's guess, because I really don't think he'll be happy with the idea of Astoria inviting—" Ginny broke off as Rose opened the door. "Good morning, Rose."

"Morning, Aunt Ginny. Good morning, Uncle Harry."

Harry smiled at her from his seat at the kitchen table. "Good morning, Rose. You're up early."

"Yeah, I'm not a whole lot like Dad in that respect," Rose laughed, perching herself on a stool over by the window. "And I'm the earliest riser in our dorm at Hogwarts, too. Although with Lucy in the room, it's not difficult to be an early riser by comparison." She chuckled.

"What are you laughing about?" Roxanne asked, coming in. "Morning, everybody."

"Oh, just how long Lucy sleeps."

Roxanne groaned. "We're sharing a room right now. I don't understand how you and the other girls can stand it."

"We manage. I'm getting quite good at producing a freezing cold Aguamenti charm."

Roxy looked thoughtful. "I'll have to learn how to do that. It could come in handy."

The others trickled slowly into the kitchen. James only woke up properly once he smelled the bacon. Ginny had to fry three packages before he and Fred were satisfied. And that was just for the two of them.

They all piled into the van at nine thirty. Rose was one of the first in this time. She sat at the very back, Lucy on her right, Stella on her left, and Roxanne over by the window. Albus, Fred, and James had claimed the front row—Ginny looked slightly askance at this combination, but decided not to do anything about it. Lily, Elanor, and Astoria sat in front of Rose, which left Hugo, Orion, and Scorpius the middle row, Ginny having taken the front. At last they were all sorted and ready to leave.

Rose turned to the little girl sitting next to her as they drove off. "So, Stella," she said, "how are you enjoying Gryffindor?"

Stella's face lit up. "A lot," she replied. "It's such a cool House. And what's more," she chuckled, "scarlet looks really good on me. Better than anything but blue."

"Blue?" Roxanne put in from Stella's other side. "Would you have made a good Ravenclaw, do you think?"

Stella made a face. "Definitely not. I hate studying. I do enjoy classes, but I prefer the practical stuff to reading about things."

"What's your favourite class?" Rose asked.

"Potions. I love mixing things together and having it all come out right. It's a bit like cooking and baking. And sometimes, if I don't get it exactly right—" Stella smirked. "The potion explodes."

Roxy laughed. "That used to be my favourite part of Potions. But I had Professor Bletchley for most of my time at Hogwarts, so Potions was never very enjoyable. Professor Spinnet only started halfway through my seventh year, so I didn't really get much of her."

"She's a good teacher," Rose said. "One of my favourites."

"I like Professor Ffloyd best," Stella said thoughtfully. "She's strict, but she's funny too. And she's good at explaining stuff."

Lucy leaned across Rose to ask, "What's your Quidditch team?"

"Holyhead Harpies," came the instant response.

Lucy grinned. "Mine too." They smiled at each other.

"What's yours?" Stella asked, turning to Rose. "

Aberdeen Arrows."

"Who were thrashed by the Exeter Eagles last year," Roxy put in.

"That wasn't their fault," Rose protested. "The Seeker was incapacitated during the game against the Hebrides Hurricanes, and they didn't have enough time to get a good reserve."

"That wasn't the Hurricanes' fault either," Astoria said from in front of them.

James broke off his conversation with Fred and turned around in surprise. "You're a Hurricanes fan, too?" he asked, looking at Astoria.

"Yup. As is Scorpius. Stella supports the Harpies, and Draco's inclined towards the Montrose Magpies."

"My dad's a Magpies fan," Roxy said.

James had now turned completely around in his seat so that he could look at the rows behind him without twisting his neck. He glanced at Scorpius, who was sitting behind Albus.

"You support the Hebrides Hurricanes?" he asked, for once with no trace of hostility in his voice.

"Yeah, I have since I was ten. My dad took me to a game between the Magpies and the Hurricanes. I think he was trying to win me over to the Magpies, but," Scorpius chuckled, "when the Hurricanes won by 250 points, I sort of decided to be on their side instead."

James's eyes widened. "Was that the game in the season of 2016? Because I was at that one. Uncle George took me. He's a Magpies fan."

"Yes, it was," Scorpius said, the ghost of a smile appearing on his face. "Remember when the Hurricanes Seeker did the Wronski Feint and totally knocked out the opposing Seeker?"

"Yeah. That was awesome. And the way Ackerley scored five times in a row."

"Mm-hm. Did you go to see the Hurricanes' home game against the Cannons last summer?"

Rose relaxed as the boys carried on their Quidditch conversation. At least James and Scorpius had something in common.

The rest of the journey passed by. They pulled into the yard at the Burrow at one. Molly came bustling towards them as they got out.

"Come inside and have some lunch," she said, ushering them towards the house.

Rose walked into the kitchen to find a buffet lunch set up on the table. People were going in and out, getting food. Rose grabbed a plate and filled it, then headed outside to sit in the garden. Shortly after, Lily joined her, likewise carrying a plate of food.

"So, Lily," Rose said as her cousin sat down next to her. "Who were you writing to on Tuesday evening?"

Lily hesitated before answering. "Lorcan."

"Why was that such a big deal?"

"It wasn't, really. It's just…" Lily trailed off.

"Just what?"

"Nothing."

Rose gave Lily a hard stare, and then turned back to her meal. If that tone of voice meant nothing then she was a Hippogriff. But Lily would tell her eventually, if anything was going on. In the meantime, she might as well enjoy her sausages.

Lily reached over and nudged Rose. She pointed towards the gate, where Rose could see a tall, red-haired boy and a girl with dark-brown curls arriving.

"Look, there's Fred. But who's that with him?"

"I don't know. Come on, let's go find out."

They took their now empty plates inside, and went back out to the front yard.

"Oi! Fred!", Lily yelled over the tumult.

Fred turned. "What?"

"Introduce us." By now they had reached him.

Fred turned to the girl next to him with a grin on his face. "Alright."

"I already know her," Rose broke in. "You're Zoe Wood, right? Annie's twin?"

The girl nodded. "Yup. I know you're Rose. And you are...?"

"Lily. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

"I still need to introduce you," Fred said.

All three girls stared at him.

"Why?" Lily said.

Fred grinned broadly. "Ladies, allow me to introduce you to Zoe Wood...my girlfriend."

"Seriously?" Lily squealed.

Zoe laughed and pretended to slap Fred. "Yeah. But it's not like it's that big of a deal. He just gets a little overexcited sometimes."

"Oh, Fred's nothing compared to Lily," Rose said. "Look, there she goes already."

Lily had turned and run off, presumably to find someone to tell the news to.

"Hey, Fred," someone called out behind them.

Fred turned and looked over his shoulder. Then he turned back to Zoe and gave her a smile.

"I'll be back in a minute. I've got to go, Dad wants me." He headed over to the door, where George was beckoning.

Rose led Zoe over to a shady spot under a tree, slightly away from all the noise and bustle. "So tell me, Zoe," Rose said as they sat down. "How did you start going out with Fred? I didn't even know you two knew each other."

"We didn't know each other all that well while he was at school. I knew him by name, but he was the year above me and a star on the Quidditch pitch. I don't think he knew me as anything other than 'one of James's classmates' until last October."

"You've been going out since October?"

"Nearly. It all started on the first Hogsmeade weekend. I was in WWW, looking for something, I didn't know what, for my ongoing prank war with Annie. Fred came over and asked if I needed help, and when I said I was looking for something to use on my twin sister he mentioned he had a twin and that his dad was a twin as well. The conversation sort of escalated from there. Then two weeks later, he came to Hogwarts to watch the Ravenclaw-Slytherin match, and literally bumped into me in the stands. He was all apologetic, and helped me up, but I'm not entirely sure it was an accident." Zoe chuckled. "Then at the next Hogsmeade weekend, we had another chat at the shop, and he arranged to meet me at the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer, and then he officially asked me out. Don't tell anyone else this, but," Zoe lowered her voice slightly, "you know the passageway behind the one-eyed witch, that leads into Honeydukes?" Rose nodded. "Well, I've been using it all year to meet up with Fred. Whenever I'm free, that is. N.E.W.T classes take a lot of work."

"What classes are you taking?" "Transfiguration, Charms, Arithmancy, and Defense against the Dark Arts. I'm hoping to get a job at the Ministry after school. What about you?"

"Potions, Transfiguration, Herbology, Charms, and Defence against the Dark Arts, and I'm doing Ancient Runes too. I want to do the training program at St. Mungo's when I finish Hogwarts."

"Sounds neat. But why Ancient Runes? You don't need them to be a Healer, do you?"

Rose laughed. "No, I'm just taking it because I enjoy it so much."

Just then, Hugo came running over. "Rose, Rose, guess what," he panted, coming to a stop with a large grin on his face.

"Nan's made pumpkin pasties?"

"No-well, yes, she has, but that wasn't what I was going to say. Dad just told me-the Chudley Cannons beat the Kenmare Kestrels 200 to 170!"

"They what?" Zoe said.

"Beat the Kestrels! By thirty points! Wait till Uncle Charlie hears, he'll be hopping mad..." And Hugo had disappeared again.

"But-the Cannons haven't won anything since 2003, when the Seeker of the opposing team wasn't playing," Rose said.

Zoe chuckled. "Looks like they've won something now. Go Cannons!"

"You're a Cannons fan too?"

"Totally. You?"

"Nope. Aberdeen Arrows all the way."

"Didn't they used to be something else?"

"They were the Appleby Arrows. But the Quidditch pitch near Appleby was shut down in 2010, because of all the Muggles. They kept getting near, and the Ministry was tired of performing Memory Charms. So the Arrows built another pitch near Aberdeen, and changed their name to suit."

At that moment, Dominique rushed up to them. "Rose! There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you. The ceremony starts in half an hour, we've got to go get ready."

"Alright, I'm coming," Rose said, getting to her feet. "See you later, Zoe."

She allowed herself to be pulled inside and up the stairs by Dominique. They entered a bedroom on the second floor to find Lucy, Lily, and Roxanne walking around in various stages of undressing. The bridesmaids' dresses were hung on a rail in the corner.

The girls finished doing each other's hair in record time—ten minutes each. They slipped into their dresses, and then followed a scramble to sort out their shoes.

At last they were ready—and none too soon. Bill knocked on the door.

"Ready, everyone?" he asked, sticking his head into the room. "Come on, then, we're about to start."

He led them downstairs and out to the back yard. A large white marquee had been set up, and everyone was inside. The five girls joined the group of people waiting by the entrance.

Victoire looked radiant. Her long, silvery-blonde hair had been twisted into a bun at the back. A few strands had been left free, and these had been curled and were hanging on either side of her face. Her dress had a tight-fitting, strapless satin waist that joined a wide skirt puffed out with layers of lace and silk. It swept into a train behind her. The waist was pure white, and where it met the silver-spangled skirt Victoire wore a single crimson rose. She was absolutely stunning.

Music started to swell from within the marquee. Bill nodded to Teddy and his best man, Samuel Finch-Fletchley. Teddy took a deep breath and started to walk down the aisle with Samuel right behind him. Then came Gabrielle's daughter Suzanne, carrying the rings, and behind her Stella with a basket of flowers. Roxy and Lucy entered side by side, and then it was Rose and Lily's turn. Dominique came behind them, and last, leaning on her father's arm, came Victoire.

The guests all stood as she slowly proceeded down the aisle. Up at the front, Teddy turned and sent a smile at Victoire. As she reached him, Bill pulled her close for one last hug, and then took his seat. Victoire placed her hand on Teddy's arm and turned to face the front with him. The ceremony began.

"Ladies and gentlemen, friends and family, we are gathered together to witness the joining in marriage…"

Rose let her attention wander from the Ministry wizard who was officiating. On the other side of the tent she could see Fred and Zoe. Fred had his arm around Zoe's shoulder, and she was leaning against him. Rose smiled. It was nice seeing Fred and Zoe together. They clearly genuinely cared about each other.

Rose's eyes wandered over the rest of the guests. George and Angelina were next to Fred. As Rose watched, Angelina looked up at George and smiled, giving his hand a squeeze.

A few rows behind them sat the Malfoys, minus Stella. Orion was fidgeting around as usual. Scorpius looked up, and saw Rose watching him. He grinned. She smiled back, and then quickly turned to face the front again.

"Do you, Theodore Remus Lupin, take Victoire Apolline Weasley to be your lawfully wedded wife…"

In the front row, Fleur sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"And do you, Victoire Apolline Weasley…"

Hermione pulled out a handkerchief too.

"Mum," Rose whispered, mortified.

She held her breath as Victoire answered.

"I do."

The Ministry wizard raised his wand. "Then I declare you bonded for life."

Streamers burst out of his wand and spiralled around the pair, who were now kissing.

"Ladies and gentlemen…" Teddy and Victoire turned to face the audience; Victoire was clutching Teddy's arm, flushed and laughing, and Teddy was grinning broadly. "May I present—Mr. and Mrs. Lupin!"

Everyone burst into cheers and started applauding. Teddy and Victoire headed down the aisle among a shower of confetti.

Once they were outside, everyone else started moving. Rose, Lily, Dominique, Lucy, Roxy, Stella, Suzanne, and Samuel were all wanted outside for photos. After what felt like hours, but was only about thirty minutes, the photographer pronounced himself done. With a sigh of relief, Rose headed inside the house to get a drink of cold water.

When she came out again, the marquee had been transformed into a pavilion-type roof supported by golden poles, the chairs had regrouped around tables, and in the middle was a smooth silver dance floor. Rose saw Lucy, Roxy, Fred, Zoe, and Dominique sitting at a table, and went over to join them.

"Where's Lily?" she asked as she sat down. "And Louis, Molly, Hugo, James, and Al, for that matter?"

"Lily went to get drinks," Roxy said. "Hugo's over with Uncle Ron—probably talking about the Cannons." She rolled her eyes. "I think Molly went inside to find the library, and Louis, James, and Al have all seen fit to vanish with their girlfriends. Fred here was the only one who decided to stay."

"Chose to confer the honour of his presence upon you lot," Fred corrected.

Zoe slapped him again. "Fred, what did I tell you about behaving earlier?" she said sternly, but with a twinkle in her eye.

"Sorry, mum," Fred said, rolling his eyes and grinning. They all laughed.

Just then, music started playing softly from somewhere. They all looked up to see Bill walk out to the edge of the dance floor. When everyone had quietened down and all eyes were on him, Bill cleared his throat and turned towards the entrance.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said in a clear, carrying voice. "Please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Lupin!"

There was a round of applause as Teddy and Victoire entered. They walked out to the middle of the dance floor; then as the music (which seemed to be coming from the ceiling) got louder, Teddy put his arms around Victoire's waist. She lifted her arms to his shoulders, and the two of them slowly began to dance.

After a bit, Bill led Fleur out onto the dance floor, where they were quickly joined by Harry and Ginny. Soon the area was full of couples. The music sped up.

Rose, Lucy, and Dominique were the only ones still at the table now. Fred and Zoe had vanished, presumably to dance, and Roxy had been asked to dance by one of Victoire's French relatives. The three girls were talking about the upcoming World Cup when someone approached their table.

"Excuse me?"

It was a tall, dark-haired man who looked familiar. Rose racked her brains as to who he was. Then she remembered. Teddy's best friend, and Mary Finch-Fletchley's older brother, Samuel. He was looking at Dominique.

"Er…I was wondering…"

"Yes?" Dominique said.

"Would you…would you like to dance?"

Dominique smiled up at him. "I'd love to."

He led her off to the dance floor. Rose and Lucy looked at each other.

"So what do you reckon are the chances of Germany not winning the Cup this summer?" Rose asked, returning to their previous conversation.

Lucy frowned. "I don't know. They did win the last two, but I heard a rumour that that really good Chaser of theirs, Heckenhofen, won't be playing this year. That would give the rest of the world a chance. But we won't know until we find out what the line-ups are."

"I know," Rose sighed. "It's so annoying. I don't get why the teams won't let the public know who's playing until their first match."

"For safety," Lucy said. "Remember that incident back in 2020, the summer before our third year, when some Brazilians attacked the Peruvian players three weeks before the match?"

"Good point."

"Lucy!" someone called.

Lucy turned. "Oh, it's Mum. I've got to go. See you later." She got up and left.

Rose looked around. She was now the only one at the table. Lily hadn't returned, Hugo had vanished, and everyone else was dancing. She noticed Hermione weaving her way between the tables, headed in her direction.

"Hi, Rose," Hermione said, slipping into a chair across from her daughter. "Having a good time?"

"I was, until everybody abandoned me to go dance," Rose laughed.

"There's a letter for you, it just arrived," Hermione said.

Rose frowned slightly. "A letter? That's funny. Who'd be writing to me at this time?"

"No idea. But the owl's on the kitchen table, I think it's waiting for an answer."

Rose got up from the table and went outside. She headed up the path to the house, relishing the cool night air as she walked. In the kitchen was a large Tawny Owl, perched on the table as Hermione had said. It held out its leg. Rose undid the letter tied to it, and unrolled the parchment as she sat down.

_Dear Rose,_

_I know this is short notice, but some of us are getting together at the Leaky Cauldron tomorrow. We're meeting up at two, to hang out. If you want to come, you'd be welcome._

_Mary_

_P.S. Tell Al and Lucy for me, would you? And I heard Scorpius is there too, so I guess you can invite him along as well. Not James or the others, though, I've only told sixth years about it._

_MFF_

Rose thought for a moment. She wasn't doing anything the next afternoon, as far as she knew. She found a quill on the counter and wrote an answer.

_Dear Mary,_

_I'd love to come tomorrow. I'll ask the others, too. I'm sure they'll come if they're able to._

_Rose_

She folded up the parchment, tied it to the owl, and then sent the bird off. She went back out into the garden. As she walked down the path, she bumped into someone and nearly fell over. A hand steadied her as she caught her balance. Rose looked up into the face of her rescuer.

"Thanks, Scorpius."

"No problem. It was my fault, anyway—"

"No, it was mine—"

"—I wasn't watching where I was going," they said at the same time.

Rose laughed. "I guess neither of us was."

"Enjoying yourself?" Scorpius asked.

Rose smiled. "Yes. Oh, I just got a letter from Mary Finch-Fletchley. A bunch of people are getting together at the Leaky cauldron tomorrow. You want to come?"

"I wouldn't mind," Scorpius said as they walked back towards the entrance to the pavilion.

Rose gave a small sigh as he music and laughter streamed towards her.

"Is something wrong?" Scorpius asked, looking concerned.

Rose laughed. "No, I was just feeling sorry for myself because all my cousins are off dancing and I'm not."

"Do you want to?"

"What?"

"I said, do you want to? Dance," Scorpius added.

Rose looked flustered. "Well, I'd love to, but we can't. Not in there, at least."

"What's wrong with out here?"

Rose chuckled. "Nothing, I guess."

They went over to the side a bit, away from the well-lit entrance. Just then, the fast piece that had been playing changed to a slow waltz. Rose caught her breath as Scorpius turned to face her. She had never danced with him while he looked himself. Not that the hair colour made that much difference, but still…

Scorpius put one hand on her waist, and Rose raised her hand to his shoulder. They clasped their other hands together, and started to dance. For some reason, Rose couldn't stop staring into Scorpius' eyes as they danced. She felt the same as she had that night when they went skating in December. Almost as if he were about to—

A resounding clap of thunder startled her out of her thoughts. Surprised, they both stopped dancing and looked up, just in time to see a bolt of lightning flicker across the sky, followed by another loud thunderclap. Then it started to rain.

Rose grabbed Scorpius by the arm and dragged him under a nearby tree to shelter from the downpour.

"That was abrupt," Scorpius said.

"Yeah, I'll say," Rose agreed.

The tree, while providing shelter from the storm, didn't offer a very wide area, which meant that the two of them had to huddle together quite closely against the tree trunk. Rose shivered slightly as more lightning flashed across the sky. Scorpius turned and looked at her.

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Cold?"

"A bit," Rose admitted, rubbing her shoulders. "Sleeveless dresses aren't the best for sudden thunderstorms."

Scorpius hesitantly put his arm around her shoulders. "Better?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Ye—yes, thanks." Rose turned to watch the storm again, not quite sure what else to say.

The wind blew stronger, and soon the rain was starting to drive sideways, reaching them.

"I wish I had my wand," Rose said suddenly.

"Why?" Scorpius asked.

"Because I know a water-repelling spell. But I left my wand inside."

"What's the spell?"

"_Impervious_."

Scorpius pulled his wand out of his pocket with his free hand and directed it at the two of them, saying the spell.

"Thanks," Rose said again.

"No problem. I—I guess we can go back to the reception now without getting soaked."

"Alright."

They moved out into the rain. Scorpius still had his arm around Rose's shoulders; Rose wasn't sure if he had left it there on purpose, or if he'd just forgotten. But it felt nice.

They stopped near the entrance to the marquee. "I suppose I'll go in now," Rose said, looking anywhere but at Scorpius.

"Okay." He lowered his arm, as though suddenly conscious of the fact that he still had it around her.

Rose turned and started to walk around the clump of bushes that stood between them and the entrance.

"Rose," Scorpius called behind her.

She turned to face him again. "What—"

But she never finished her sentence, because at that moment, he placed his hands on her shoulders, pulled her close to him, and kissed her.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, Rose slipped back inside the marquee and found herself an empty table in a corner, well away from the prying eyes of her family. Most of them, anyway.<p>

Rose chuckled to herself as Lily spotted her and immediately made a beeline for her table. That girl seemed to have a radar for any time something out of the ordinary happened. Lily sat down opposite Rose and leaned forward.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what happened? You left more than forty minutes ago, and I haven't seen you since, and now you walk back in here with a secret smile on your face and sit down on the other side of the tent from the rest of us. So," Lily pressed, "what happened?"

Rose laughed. "You're too clever for your own good sometimes, Lily. Well," she lowered her voice, "I may or may not have just…er—kissed Scorpius."

Lily's face was priceless.

For a moment, she said nothing, just sitting there. Then, apparently regaining control of her senses, she stood up, grabbed Rose by the hand, and pulled her outside. The rain had stopped now, but every now and again, lightning flickered in the distance.

Lily and Rose sat down on a bench, out of earshot of the reception. Lily turned eagerly to Rose.

"Well, come on, spill. What exactly happened?"

"I was over at the house because I'd gotten a letter. Then when I was walking back, I ran into Scorpius—literally. He caught me before I fell, though. We talked for a bit, and then the storm started, so we went to shelter under a tree, and because it was a bit cold, he put his arm around my shoulders to warm me up. Then I remembered the water-repelling spell, so we used that so that we could walk back through the rain. I was about to go inside when I heard him call my name, so I turned around and he…well…" Rose blushed in the darkness.

Lily laughed. "That's when he kissed you, I assume. What did you do after that?"

"He went all apologetic on me, you know, the whole oh-I'm-so-sorry-I-didn't-mean-to-do-that thing."

"What did you say?"

Rose blushed even harder. "I think I may have told him to just shut up and kiss me again," she mumbled.

Lily giggled. "Rose! What did he say to that?"

"He didn't say anything much for a bit." Rose laughed again at the look on Lily's face. "But then he, er, asked me to go into Diagon Alley with him tomorrow."

Lily sat bolt upright. "Rose," she said, eyeing her cousin, "considering he's officially asked you out, does that make him your boyfriend now?"

"Um, I guess so?"

Lily squealed and gave Rose a hug. "That's so exciting! What are you going to tell Uncle Ron?" she added as an afterthought.

Rose looked worried. "No idea."

"You're going to have to think of something really quickly," Lily said, peering over Rose's shoulder. "Here he comes now, and he doesn't look too happy."

Rose whirled around, but there was nobody there. She turned back to her cousin, who was trying and failing to hold in her laughter.

"Merlin, Lily, if you ever do that to me again…"

Lily laughed harder. "Your face was amazing."

"We should probably go back inside, or someone's going to start wondering where we are," Rose said.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Oh? And who were you thinking of, hmmm?"

Rose tried to slap Lily, but she ducked. "Don't be stupid, Lily, you know that's not what I meant. Come on, let's go in."

As soon as they entered the tent, someone asked Lily to dance. Rose searched the crowd for her mother. She found Hermione over by the buffet, talking to Angelina.

"Hi, Mum," she said, coming up to the pair. "Auntie Angelina, do you mind if I borrow Mum for a minute? I need to talk to her about something."

"Sure, no problem."

Rose and Hermione found an empty table in a corner.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Hermione asked as they sat down.

Rose blushed slightly. "I—I have a boyfriend."

"Really? Who is it? do I know him? Is he nice? How long have you two been dating?"

"Mum, Mum, slow down," Rose protested, trying to stop Hermione's flow of excited questions. "I can only answer one at a time. Of course he's nice, else I wouldn't be going out with him. He's seventeen, in my year. And he asked me out—er, just now."

Hermione looked surprised. "Who?"

"Scorpius," Rose muttered.

She rolled her eyes slightly. It wasn't as though she'd told her mother during their conversation last Tuesday that she fancied him or anything, right?

Hermione's eyes widened in shock. "Scorpius?"

"He's really nice. And he's friendly, and caring, and—and really good at Quidditch, and I'm sure you'd like him if you knew him," Rose said desperately. "He's not really like his father at all—well, except for how he looks. But he's more like his mother. And besides, you're always saying we should judge people for themselves, not for their families."

Hermione laughed. "Don't worry, Rose, I won't be judging him until after I've met him. And if you like him, I'm sure I will. The question is, will your dad?"

Rose turned worried eyes on her mother. "I don't know."

"I'll tell you what," Hermione said. "I won't tell him you have a boyfriend, but I'm not going to tell him you don't. If he asks me, of course, I'm not going to lie to him, but I won't mention it until you want me to." Rose opened her mouth to agree, but Hermione stopped her. "On one condition—if you and Scorpius are still together in six months, you have to tell your father then, if you haven't before. Alright?"

Rose considered it, and then nodded slowly. "Okay. Thank you."

Hermione smiled, and gave Rose's hand a squeeze. "No problem. See you later." She got up and vanished in the crowd.

Rose was watching the dancing when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder.

"May I have this dance?"

Rose turned around to see Scorpius smiling at her. "Of course. If we go outside again."

"I don't mind."

Rose and Scorpius danced together for the next half hour. They had just sat down for a break when Rose heard someone calling her. She turned to see Ginny looking for her.

"I'm over here, Aunt Ginny."

"Where have you been?" Ginny said, coming closer. "I've been looking for you for a good twenty minutes. What were you—" Then she saw Scorpius. Ginny chuckled. "Oh. I see. Well, Rose, we have to go now if we want to be home before midnight, so when you're ready…" She gave Rose a knowing smile and left again.

Rose turned to Scorpius, her cheeks faintly pink. "I was about to say see you later, but then I remembered that you're coming back with us," she said with a laugh. "Come on, let's go."

They walked around to the front of the house, where all the cousins were saying goodbye to Molly and Arthur, and trying to sort out seating arrangements in the big blue van. Under cover of all the chatter, Rose drew Ginny aside.

"Er, Ginny, there's something I wanted to tell you…"

Ginny's eyes twinkled. "Might this have something to do with the fact that you and Scorpius vanished together for at least and hour and a half?"

Rose blushed. "Well, yes…he asked me out."

"And it took him a whole ninety minutes to do so?"

Rose's cheeks got redder. "As I'm sure you have already guessed, he did more than just ask me out."

Ginny laughed. "Alright, Rose, I won't enquire any further. And I'm guessing you probably don't want me to mention it to Ron just yet?"

Rose's cheeks had begun to cool down. "It would be much appreciated if you didn't. And Mum's made me promise to tell him in six month at the latest—if we're still together then."

"Fair enough," Ginny conceded. "Come on, let's go get in the van."

They walked back out to the front yard, where no one had as yet made any move towards the vehicle.

"Alright, everyone, time to go," Ginny shouted.

Rose climbed into the van. Scorpius was sitting at the very back, and she joined him, quickly followed by Lily and Lucy. Ginny, Astoria, and Elanor, who was looking very sleepy, took the row in front of them.

Rose noticed James, Albus, and Hugo racing towards the van. She chuckled to herself as Al leaped for the front, flung open the door, and threw himself into the passenger seat, sending a triumphant grin in Hugo's direction. Hugo grinned back, defeated, and climbed into the first row of seats, followed by a, for once in his life, silent Orion, and James.

"Who are we still missing?" Harry asked, sticking his head in.

Ginny did a quick head cont. "Stella, Fred, and Roxanne."

"Stella and Roxy were talking with Nan," Lily said from next to Rose.

"Where?" Harry asked.

"In the kitchen, I think."

Harry turned to go look for them, and nearly ran into them instead.

"Sorry we took forever," Roxanne said, climbing into the van after Stella. "Nan just wouldn't stop talking."

Harry chuckled. "I know what you mean. Right then, only Fred left."

He turned back to the group of people clustered around the front door. "Has anyone seen Fred?"

Dominique detached herself from some of her chattering French cousins and came towards them. "I think I saw him in the backyard. Shall I go find him?"

"Yes, please."

Dominique vanished. She reappeared a few minutes later, Fred behind her. Dominique grinned mischievously as she looked inside the van.

"I found him. Out back." She paused. "Snogging his girlfriend."

James and Al chuckled. "I thought you were only going to say goodbye," James said.

Fred looked puzzled. "I don't think I told you that."

"He's right, you know," Al put in. "As far as I recall, his exact words were 'bid her farewell'."

"Precisely," Fred said. "I never specified how." He winked, and all three boys burst out laughing.

"Much as we enjoy hearing about your exploits," Harry said, his eyes twinkling, "we really must leave if we want to get home tonight."

Fred, his face slightly red, sat down next to Roxy. Harry climbed into the front, and they drove off amidst a chorus of goodbyes.

Rose studied the seating arrangements. Really, they couldn't have been better. She was next to Scorpius at the very back, with Lily and Lucy on her other side and Ginny just in front of her. And Fred, James, and Al were about as far away from her as they could get. Rose decided to risk it. But first, she would have to explain to Lucy.

She nudged Lily. "Do me a favour, and tell Lucy that Scorpius asked me out tonight, I'm keeping it a secret from most people, but Mum, Aunt Ginny, and now you two know, and that I'll tell her more later," Rose whispered.

Lily nodded, and turned to relay the message to Lucy. Rose didn't notice Lucy's reaction, as she had turned to Scorpius.

"I'm tired. Do you mind if I sleep on you?"

Scorpius smiled down at her. "Of course not."

Rose leaned her head against his shoulder and relaxed, breathing in his faint lemon and pine scent. She knew that even if anyone looked back, Ginny and Astoria's heads would block them from view.

Just before Rose fell asleep, she felt Scorpius wrap his arm around her shoulder. Rose snuggled up against him, smiling to herself. She slept comfortably all the way home.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm sure everyone's thinking, "Finally! It's taken them long enough!" I know my best friend is.**

**But honestly, wasn't that sweet?**

**And sorry to disappoint, but the next chapter will not include their date, because when I started writing it, so much happened the next morning that it would have been way too long to include the afternoon as well. The next chapter's nearly as long as this one, and this one's already seven pages on Word.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it (if so, please tell me!), and I will try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can.**


	26. New discoveries

**A/N: I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I only just realized that it's been two months since my last update. I sincerely apologize, and I promise that I will never leave it that long again without warning. And I will do my best to get the next chapter, which is most likely the one you've all been waiting for since they first met on the train, out in the next week.**

**On that note, I wish to extend my heartfelt thanks to my father (who will most likely never read this anyway) for his old laptop. It's slow, but it's better than nothing, and it means I can work on my stories whenever I need to, which in turn will speed up my publishing.**

**Like I said in the last chapter, although you've probably forgotten since it's been so long (sorry!), the date is not in here. I fully intended it to be. But when I began to write, about three million plot bunnies suddenly attacked, and the sheer number of them meant that several managed to slip past my theoretically bunny-proof fence of a planned plotline. Hence the stuff happening that seems to be apropos of nothing. It is.**

**Anyway, I'm sure you're all wishing I would just shut up and let you read, so on with the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Rose was woken the next morning by someone jumping onto the bed next to her. She turned over to see Lily and Lucy sitting on her blanket, grinning at her.<p>

"Mo—morning," she yawned. "Why are you sitting on my bed? And how did Lucy manage to wake up before me?"

Lucy laughed. "Anticipation. Come on, spill."

Rose sat up, leaning against the headboard. "Spill what?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "About last night, of course. Lily told me the barest minimum details. So what happened?"

Rose laughed. "Well, I was walking back from the house when I ran into Scorpius…" she began.

It was a full forty minutes before Lily and Lucy were satisfied.

Finally, Lily sat back with a sigh. "And you're going to be keeping it a secret?"

"Well, I've told Mum and Aunt Ginny, and you two obviously, and I'll be telling Emma, but it's not public knowledge yet. And I'm not telling Dad until I'm sure we're staying together. It will be bad enough when he finds out I'm dating Draco Malfoy's son. If Scorpius and I break up, he'll blow his top even more."

"Why would you break up with him?"

"Obviously, I'm hoping we won't, but you never know," Rose said. "I'd rather just play it safe."

Lucy thought for a moment. Then she said, "Random jump back in time: what were you doing at the house, anyway? The party was outside."

"Oh! I almost forgot. Mary Finch-Fletchley's organising a get-together at the Leaky Cauldron this afternoon. Sixth years only. Scorpius and I—" Rose smiled at how nice the combination sounded, "—are going. Do you want to come, Lu?"

Lucy frowned. "What time?"

"Around two."

Lucy shook her head. "Aunt Ginny's taking me and Al, and maybe Stella, to the Falcons vs. the Harpies game. We're leaving at one. So there's no chance we'll be going anywhere at two."

"I guess it's just me and Scorpius, then," Rose said.

Lily smirked. "And I'm sure you're terribly upset about that."

Rose threw a pillow at her. Lily dodged, started to fall, and grabbed at Lucy to stop herself going over the edge of the bed. It didn't work. The two of them landed on the carpet in a tangle of arms and legs.

Lily extracted herself, and stood up. "Right," she said, grinning. "You'll pay for that."

Lily picked the pillow up and attempted to hit Rose with it. Rose ducked, came back up, and grabbed the pillow as it swung towards her again. Lily overbalanced and fell squarely on top of Lucy, who had just sat down on the bed again. Lily rolled aside just in time to avoid the pillow, which then hit Lucy in the face instead. The ensuing three-way pillow fight was in full swing when Rose heard a noise and looked up.

She saw Ginny leaning against the door frame and dropped the pillow she'd been about to fire at Lily. Lily, who was standing in the middle of the bed, turned to see what Rose was looking at, got her foot tangled in the blanket, and fell down, landing on Lucy again.

Lucy groaned. "How much pudding have you been taking after meals, Lil?"

"Not enough, obviously, since you're still breathing."

"Although I enjoy watching you try to murder your cousin," Ginny said from the door, "the rest of the family would appreciate it if you three came down to breakfast, as we're all waiting for you."

Sheepishly, the girls straightened out the crumpled bedding and headed downstairs to join the others.

"You're just in time," Dominique said as they came in. "Any longer, and we wouldn't have been able to hold Fred and James off the bacon."

Rose, Lucy, and Lily sat down and started eating.

Ginny resumed her seat at the head of the table. "So what are you all doing today?"

"I'm planning on going to Diagon Alley this afternoon," Rose said. "I'm not sure yet what time, but probably around one."

Lucy opened her mouth to say something, looking confused, but Rose nudged her. Under cover of the others' chatter, Rose whispered, "When one goes into Diagon Alley with one's boyfriend, one generally prefers to go on one's own. We'll meet up with the others afterwards."

Lucy nodded. "I thought you said you guys were meeting at the Cauldron at two."

"We are. But there's no reason to broadcast the fact that I'm going there early."

The girls smiled at each other.

When Rose had finished eating, she excused herself and went out into the garden. She settled down at the roots of the oak tree by the stream and watched the water flowing by, enjoying the sight of the sunlight sparkling on it and the cool breeze ruffling the ends of her hair.

She'd been sitting there for about ten minutes when she hears someone say, "Good morning, Rose."

Rose smiled. She knew that voice. "Good morning, Scorpius."

Scorpius sat down next to her, leaning his head back against the tree. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, really. To tell the truth," Rose grinned, "I was hoping you'd come out here sooner or later."

Scorpius laughed. "I saw you go past while I was eating breakfast. I came as soon as I could."

Rose smiled at him, and then went back to watching the stream. They sat there in silence for a bit. It wasn't an awkward silence, but a friendly one, the kind where two people know each other so well that they don't need to talk.

At last, Scorpius turned to Rose. "About this afternoon…"

"Yes?"

"What time did Mary say they were meeting up?"

"Two. At the Leaky Cauldron."

"Well, how about we go to Diagon Alley around one? We can get lunch, walk around, and meet up with the others with no one the wiser. Sound good?"

Rose laughed. "You probably won't believe this, but I had exactly the same idea earlier."

Scorpius chuckled. "I knew we were perfectly matched."

Rose tried to slap him, but he dodged and grabbed her hand. Pulled off balance, she fell on top of him, knocking him over.

Scorpius spluttered. "Your hair's tickling my face."

"Sorry." Rose stood up. "Come with me, I want to show you something."

Scorpius brushed his shirt off and followed her up the garden.

Rose stopped in the trees near the Quidditch pitch. She pulled out her wand and pointed it up into the branches of a large oak. "_Descendo_." A rope ladder fell down. Rose tucked her wand back into the pocket of her robes and began to climb. Scorpius followed her.

They emerged onto a wooden platform built about twelve feet off the ground. It was six feet square, and had a small wooden rail running around the edge.

Scorpius looked around. "Is this a tree house?"

Rose chuckled. "Sort of. Sit down." She sat down cross-legged in one corner of the platform, and Scorpius followed suit. "When we were little, Lily wanted Uncle Harry to build her a tree house. He did, one the other side of the garden, and it was really cool. All of us cousins used it, even Fred, who was eleven at the time and felt himself too old to hang out with anyone younger than he. He got over it, though. So we all enjoyed the tree house for about a year. Then one night, there was a tremendous thunderstorm. James and Al went out the next morning and found the tree house scattered across the ground. So Uncle Harry decided to build another one; but this time, he wanted to build us each our own. He started out with three, for James, Albus, and Lily, but then the summer after I turned twelve he added one for each of us cousins. This platform is the starting point form which you can connect to all fourteen of them."

"Fourteen?" Scorpius broke in, looking surprised. "I didn't know your family was that big."

Rose laughed. "Not entirely. There's only twelve of us cousins: Victoire, Dominique, Louis, Molly, Lucy, Fred, Roxy, me, Hugo, James, Al, and Lily. But because Teddy is Uncle Harry's godson, he was over here a lot, so he got a tree house too. And Lorcan and Lysander have one to share."

Scorpius looked at the trees around them. "As far as I can see, this platform is isolated. It really connects to fourteen tree houses?"

Rose nodded. "If you know where to look. I can't show you anyone else's, because we never go in someone's without permission, but I can show you mine if you like."

Scorpius nodded. "I'd love to."

Rose stood up and climbed onto the corner of the platform railing. She reached up and grappled with the branches above her head. "We didn't use any magic, except for on the ladder. We built and concealed it all the Muggle way, and I must say I think we did a fairly good job."

"We?"

"Oh yes, all of us helped design our own tree houses." Just then, the branches she'd been tugging at came loose from the tangle. She pulled one end of them down, revealing another rope ladder. Rose turned to Scorpius, grinning. "Are you up for some climbing?"

"If you can do it, so can I."

"Let's go, then."

Rose climbed the ladder, moved to the side on the branch it was fastened to so that Scorpius could come up, and then pulled the branches across again. Then she moved slightly to the left, and crossed a plank bridge into the next tree. She crawled through the branches to the other side of the tree, and waited for Scorpius to catch up.

"This next bit's slightly trickier," she said. "As you can see, I have a rope swing fastened to the tree over there. The problem is, I designed it so that once I'm across, the rope stays on the other side and only comes back here when I do."

"I know this might seem a bit of a strange idea," Scorpius said, "but why don't I just use my wand to Summon it back?"

Rose stared at him. Then she laughed. "Every so often, I forget that we can use magic."

Scorpius smirked. "Good thing I'm here to remind you, then."

"Yeah, I don't know what I would do without you." Rose rolled her eyes.

"Have a mental breakdown?" Scorpius suggested.

"Possibly." Rose smiled at him, and then reached up and undid the end of the rope swing. "See you on the other side."

She gripped the rope firmly, jumped, and swung safely across to the other tree. When she had landed, Scorpius pulled out his wand. "_Accio_ rope." In a few seconds he had swung across to join Rose.

"In case you're wondering how much farther we have to go," Rose said, "it's just through this tree and across another bridge."

"Great. What are we waiting for, then?"

They climbed through the tree and crossed a hanging bridge. It ended on another wooden platform.

Scorpius looked around. "I'm just going to casually assume that this isn't the sum total of your tree house?"

Rose chuckled. "Correct. See if you can figure out where we go next."

Scorpius studied the tree they were in. At last he pointed to the right. "If I'm not mistaken, it looks to me as though there were boards nailed at regular intervals to that part of the trunk."

"Well done. Ten points to Slytherin," Rose said.

Scorpius laughed. "You sounded uncannily like Professor Spinnet there."

Rose grinned. "Thanks. I think I do her accent pretty well, especially considering I don't hear her say that very often."

"That's because she generally gives us more than ten points," Scorpius said.

"I beg to differ. Come on, let's go up."

They climbed the ladder and emerged onto another platform—or, to be precise, the balcony of Rose's tree house. The ladder came up directly opposite the door to the tree house, which was flanked by a window on either side. Rose opened the door, and the two of them walked inside. The tree house only had one room, but it was a spacious room, with windows letting in sunlight on every side. On the left stood a desk covered in scattered parchment and notebooks. The back wall was lined with bookshelves. Built into the wall on the right, lined with tin, was a fireplace. A plump beanbag sat in front of the fireplace. It all looked very cosy.

"Nice," Scorpius said, looking around. "Mind if I explore?"

"Go ahead."

Scorpius crossed over to the desk and studied the notebooks spread across its surface. He turned and looked at Rose, who had settled herself into the beanbag.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but are these stories you've written yourself?"

Rose blushed slightly. "Yes."

"Why didn't you ever tell me you write?"

"There never was a reason to. As a matter of fact, the only people who know I write stories are Mum, Dad, Ginny, Lucy, Emma, and now you."

Scorpius stared at her, and then picked up one of the notebooks. "May I look?"

Rose laughed. "If the answer were no, I wouldn't have brought you here in the first place."

Scorpius smiled, and opened the notebook at random. He glanced at the page, and then took a closer look. He looked back at Rose. "This character profile…"

"What about it?"

"It's that girl Laura Langton, from the Catching Creatures series, isn't it?"

Now it was Rose's turn to stare. "How do you know about them?"

"I found them in the Hogwarts library, in the fiction section. I read the five that were there, and liked them a lot. But I could never find them anywhere else."

Rose crossed over to a small bookshelf in the corner, pulled out a stack of books, and handed them to Scorpius. He read the titles out loud.

"_The Day the Dragon Struck_, _Country Kneazles_, _Oh, Hippogriffs!_, _I_ _Found a Fire Crab_, _Pixies Don't Talk_, and—" He paused. "_The Grindylow Game_? Is that the sixth book? Where did you get these? I've never met anyone else who's even heard of them."

Rose cleared her throat. "Er…well…I wrote them," she blurted out.

Scorpius was speechless. After a while he said, "You wrote them? Wow. They're really good. But how did you get them published? And why haven't I seen them anywhere else? Oh, and I guess Flora Saywele is your pen name."

Rose nodded. "I got the first one printed in December 2021. It was all Aunt Ginny's fault, really. She saw me writing one day, asked what I was doing, and insisted on reading it. Then she said I ought to get it published, but I didn't think it was good enough. However, she has a friend at the Daily Prophet from when she used to work there who offered to print ten copies, for a hundred Galleons. I accepted, and since then I've printed copies of all my books. I give one copy to Mum and Dad, one to Lucy, one to Emma, one to Aunt Ginny, and one to the Hogwarts library. Oh, that's one more person who knows about my writing: Professor McGonagall. I give her a copy as well, which leaves me with four. So far I've printed the first six books of my 'Catching Creatures' series, and I'm in the process of writing the last one."

"So _The Grindylow Game_ is the sixth?"

"Yup. It was printed at the end of March, so Aunt Ginny gave me the books when I got here. That's why it hasn't appeared at Hogwarts yet."

"Can I borrow it?"

"Sure. In fact, keep it. Keep all of them. Like I said, I've got three extra of each."

Scorpius smiled. "Thanks. And can I just say, I love these books. What's the last one going to be called?"

"_Understanding Unicorns_. I'm working on it at present."

"Sounds good. Anything else you've written, or just these?"

"I've got some short stories, but I didn't have them printed. And I've got about a million and one ideas swimming around in my head, but nothing concrete."

Scorpius walked over to the fireplace. "You don't have a Floo connection here, do you?"

"Actually, yes." Rose laughed at the look of astonishment on Scorpius' face. "Only to the main house, though. But still…"

"What else have you got up your sleeve?" Scorpius asked. "Printed novels, tree houses with Floo connections, next thing you'll be telling me that you play Quidditch for England as well."

Rose laughed. "Nope, I'm planning on becoming a Healer."

"Me too."

"I know."

Scorpius looked puzzled. "How?"

For answer, Rose opened her desk drawer and pulled out the carved wooden box that Hugo had given her last Christmas. She held it out to Scorpius. He opened it, looking confused. His face cleared up when he saw the small stack of light-blue envelopes.

"I must admit, I have mine in a less fancy container."

"So you kept yours too?"

Scorpius smiled. "Of course."

"There's another part to the tree house that you haven't seen yet," Rose said.

"Where?"

"Up on top."

"So how do we get up?"

"Well, generally, I use the ladder on the front porch, but if you'd like to climb the walls instead, be my guest."

Scorpius laughed. "I'll use the ladder, thanks."

They went back out onto the porch. Rose climbed a rope ladder fastened to the corner of the tree house, and Scorpius followed. On the flat roof was a bench, with a shelter built over it.

"Any particular reason you decided to put a bench on the roof of your tree house?" Scorpius inquired.

Rose laughed. "Yes, of course. As you probably have not noticed, we're very close to the Quidditch pitch. If you sit or stand near the middle of this roof, you can see, through a gap in the trees, most of what goes on."

"Nice."

"And if you look the other direction, you can see the main house. Sometimes, when Aunt Ginny is looking for us, she puts a message in the sky over…the house…so we see it…" Rose trailed off.

"Like now?" Scorpius suggested. He read the writing out loud. " 'If Dominique and Rose are out there, come to the living-room.' I guess we should go, then."

"Yup. Come on. I've unfortunately run out of Floo powder, so we'll have to go back the normal way."

They climbed back down the ladder, down to the first platform, across the bridge, over the rope swing, and across the second bridge. They had just climbed down the rope ladder to the main platform when Rose heard someone say her name. She turned.

"Dominique! Er, hi?"

Dominique, who was standing at the opposite corner of the platform, looked from Rose to Scorpius and back again. "What are you two doing here?"

"I—I was showing him my tree house."

"Why? I didn't know you two were friends."

"Well…er…"

Scorpius leaned forward and whispered in Rose's ear. "Do you mind her knowing?"

Rose shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Alright then." Scorpius looked at Dominique. Then he said slowly, "I think Rose has every right to show her boyfriend her tree house."

Dominique raised her eyebrows. "Boyfriend? When did that happen?"

Rose gulped. "Er, yesterday?"

Dominique laughed. "Stop looking so scared, Rose. I'm not going to bite your head off. Who else knows?"

"Lucy, Lily, Aunt Ginny, Mum."

"And I've told my mother," Scorpius put in.

Dominique grinned. "Am I correct in assuming that you're not mentioning it to Uncle Ron or Mr. Malfoy right now?"

Rose nodded. "You would be absolutely right in assuming that. You would also be right to further assume that we do not want this broadcast at present."

"Okay. We should probably go, Aunt Ginny will be wondering why it's taking us so long to get back."

The three of them climbed down to the ground and walked back through the trees. At the back door, Scorpius said goodbye and carried on to the guest cottage.

Dominique put her hand on Rose's arm before they went inside. "I just wanted to say, don't think I didn't notice that something was going on last Christmas." Rose blushed slightly. "And one more thing: congratulations."

"Thanks," Rose stammered out. "Was—was I really that obvious?"

"Only to someone who's observant. Which, I must admit, I don't think most of our cousins are."

Rose laughed. "I think I'll have to agree with you on that one."

The girls walked inside and down the hall to the living-room, where they found Ginny, Lucy, Molly, Roxanne, and Lily.

Ginny looked up as Rose and Dominique came in. "Finally," she greeted them. "I sent that message up a full fifteen minutes ago. What were you doing?"

"Talking," Rose said quickly. "Anyway, we're here now."

"I think that makes everyone, then," Ginny said. "Well, you're probably all wondering what I gathered you together for. Did any of you ever meet my friend Athena?"

"I think I did once, ages ago," Lily said. "Wasn't she that exchange reporter at the Prophet from Greece?"

"Close. From Cyprus, actually. She runs a little holiday community in one of the coastal cities. Summer bungalows and such. I got a letter from her last week, saying that this summer, she's nearly fully booked, but two of her regular families have cancelled, leaving her with two empty bungalows. All of her summer residents are people either known to her personally or recommended by word of mouth, so she didn't want to go and advertise and get whoever. She wrote to me instead. So what do you girls think about the possibility of a holiday in Cyprus this summer?"

There was instant uproar.

"Cyprus? Really?"

"For how long?"

"Just us, or everyone else too?"

"When would we go?"

"Hah, now Emma won't be the only one who talks about her foreign travels."

"Sally Peakes once went to Cyprus. She told our dorm all about it when she got back. It sounded nice."

Lily, Molly, Roxanne, Lucy, Rose, and Dominique all looked excitedly at Ginny.

Ginny laughed. "I must say that it's not been confirmed yet, but if it all works out, we'll leave at the end of June, and come back in the middle of August. And yes, it will most likely just be us. I'm planning on asking Fleur, Audrey, Angelina, and Hermione, and maybe Luna, but it will definitely be a girls-only holiday."

"Sounds like fun," Lucy said.

"So you're all up for it?" Ginny looked around at them expectantly.

A chorus of affirmation answered her.

Ginny smiled. "I'll write back to Athena, then, and tell her that we'd be delighted to accept." She stood up, crossed over to a desk in the corner of the room, and took out a quill and parchment. "In fact, I'll write back to her right now."

"Does anyone know what time it is?" Rose asked.

Molly looked at her watch. "Quarter to twelve."

"Thanks."

Just then, there was a tap-tapping at the window. They all looked up to see a large Tawny Owl sitting on the windowsill, a letter tied to its leg. Rose smiled to herself. She recognized that owl.

"I think it's for me."

Roxanne, who was nearest the window, let the owl in. It immediately fluttered over to Rose. She untied the parchment, opened it, and scanned the familiar handwriting.

_Dear Rose,_

_I told Mum that we're going to Diagon Alley at one. Dad thinks it's just me going. So I suggest that we Floo to the Cauldron separately. We can meet there, and then…well, you'll find out. _

_Yours, _

_Scorpius_

Rose picked up a piece of parchment to write out her answer.

_Dear Scorpius,_

_Sounds good. I can't wait!_

_Yours, _

_Rose_

Rose smiled to herself as she watched the owl fly off. The afternoon promised to be fun.

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><p><strong>AN: I solemnly swear that I will have the next chapter out by Monday. And from then on, I will do my best to have weekly updates. As I'm sure I've said before, reviews definitely help!**


	27. First dates and Quidditch discussions

**A/N: I'm very, very sorry that it's taken me so long to get this done! I was really busy with my novel, and then I couldn't figure out where the story was going next, and then i suddenly realized that I had a scene all wrong and had to cut it and completely rewrite...**

**Anyway, here is probably one of the most eagerly awaited chapters since the start of the story. Not a lot of fluff yet, but I promise it will increase as the story continues :-) Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Rose walked into the living-room, triumphantly clutching a roll of parchment.<p>

"I've finished my Charms essay!" she proclaimed to Ginny, who was sitting at the desk. "And the only other holiday homework I have left is an essay about the Second Wizarding War for Professor Binns." Rose grinned. "And with all the stories you guys have told, I'd be able to write the essay the evening before it's due."

Ginny nodded. "Good. I don't think Al's even looked at any of his homework yet."

Rose laughed. "Knowing him, he'll probably frantically scribble on the last day of the holidays."

Ginny chuckled. "If he's anything like his uncle, yes. By the way, Rose, weren't you going into Diagon Alley at one?"

"Yes. Why, what time is it?"

"Ten to one."

"Uh-oh. I guess I was upstairs longer than I thought."

Rose raced up to Lily's room as fast as she could, shoved her essay into a drawer, and began to get ready for her date that afternoon.

Rose paused in the process of combing out her curls and smiled to herself. That sounded so nice: her date that afternoon. She was definitely looking forward to it. she was feeling slightly nervous as well, but since it was Scorpius, she more had feelings of excitement and anticipation.

Rose finished combing her hair and put on a blue headband, the same shade as her eyes. She cast a glance at herself in the mirror, checking that her clothes were neat and free of stains.

Rose chuckled as she picked up her purse and went downstairs. Lily, if she knew, would have been horrified at how little preparation she had put into her outfit. Rose could hear her cousin, in her mind: "Rose, are you mental? This is your first official or otherwise date ever, and all you did was comb your hair? Okay, I know you've known Scorpius for six years, but still…jeans and a cardigan? You couldn't even change into a skirt? Seriously, Rose, sometimes I worry about you."

"I wouldn't if I were you," Rose muttered to herself.

"You wouldn't what?"

Rose looked up to see Al, Ginny, Lucy, Fred, and Stella all standing around the hallway fireplace. It was Fred who had spoken. "Oh, nothing. I was just talking to myself," Rose said. "Where are you all going?"

"To the Falcons' game."

"To the Harpies' game," Al and Lucy said at the same time.

"Where are you going?" Fred asked.

"Diagon Alley. To meet up with some friends."

"Well, enjoy yourself," Ginny said, taking the Floo powder off the mantelpiece and handing it around. "Do you want to go first, rather than waiting for all of us to go through?"

"Alright. Thanks, Aunt Ginny. See you later!"

Rose threw a handful of Floo powder into the fireplace, and stepped inside. "Diagon Alley!"

She stepped out of the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron, brushing ash off her shoulders. Scorpius was standing over by the bar, waiting for her.

Rose walked over to him. "Hi, Scorpius. Sorry I'm late. I was working on my Charms essay and lost track of time."

Scorpius laughed. "Why does that not surprise me?"

"So where are we going?"

Scorpius smiled. "You'll see when we get there. Come on, let's go."

They went out into the backyard of the Leaky Cauldron. Scorpius pulled out his wand and tapped the right brick. The wall opened, displaying the familiar bustle of Diagon Alley.

"How far along Diagon Alley have you been?" Scorpius asked, as they entered the crowd.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever been past Ollivander's?"

"I don't think so. And the last time I went down that way was nearly four years ago, when Hugo bought his wand."

Scorpius smiled at her. "Good."

Someone accidentally bumped into Rose, knocking her against Scorpius. He caught her arm, steadying her.

"Thanks," Rose said.

"No problem."

As they continued walking, Scorpius slid his hand down Rose's arm, and took her hand in his. Rose started at the unexpected contact, but then she smiled up at him, and wrapped her fingers more snugly around his. They carried on down Diagon Alley, hand in hand.

As they drew near to Ollivander's Rose looked at the street ahead of them. She had always thought it ended there. But as they went further, Rose saw that the street made a sharp turn to the left.

Rose turned to Scorpius. "Where does this go?"

"To the Fountain of Fair Fortune." Scorpius laughed at the sceptical look on Rose's face. "Not really. But that's what I used to call it when I was younger. Now if you stop asking questions and just come, you'll find out much sooner."

They turned and walked down the street. Rose looked at the houses around them as they walked, looking for some clue as to where they were going. It looked just like the rest of Diagon Alley to her. Then, up ahead, the street widened out into a square. A fountain sparkled in the center. A wide sidewalk, lined with trees, ran around the square. Here and there, benches stood under the trees, facing the fountain.

Rose looked around at it all, and then turned to Scorpius. "How did I never know about this?"

Scorpius chuckled. "Have you ever come to Diagon Alley on something other than business? Because all the shops are back that way, so there'd have been no reason for you to come any further."

Rose frowned. "Now that you mention it, I think I've always come here to get school stuff, except for one time last week with Lily."

"Well, my uncle runs one of the restaurants here, so Mum and Dad and I, and Stella too, when she was old enough, used to come down here for lunch after we finished shopping."

"Which restaurant is your uncle's?" Scorpius pointed. "Here, on the left. The Seven Wands. But we're not going there—not today, at least. I was thinking of going to the Golden Snidget, at the opposite end of the square."

Rose looked at the building he was indicating. "Looks alright to me."

They crossed the square and entered the Golden Snidget. It was a low-roofed, square building, with ivy and honeysuckle climbing the walls. Inside, the scattered tables were covered with bright, yellow and white checked tablecloths, and the painted scenes on the walls added to the cheerful atmosphere.

Rose took a closer look at the paintings as they sat down at a table by a window. "They're all Quidditch scenes," she exclaimed.

"Yup. And the radio over in the corner," Scorpius motioned towards the back wall of the restaurant, "is always tuned to the Quidditch reports on the WWN. That's one of the reasons I like coming here." He grinned. "In fact, I was eating lunch here two years ago the day the Hurricanes beat the Arrows."

"It was only by a margin of ten points," Rose retorted swiftly. "And last year, the Arrows totally creamed the Hurricanes."

Scorpius frowned. "That was just because MacDougal left to join the Exeter Eagles. She was the best of the lot, too."

"Good point," Rose conceded. "Well, the Arrows-Hurricanes game is two weeks from tomorrow, so we'll see what happens then."

Just then, the waiter came over to their table to take their orders. Rose picked up the menu and glanced down it. "I'll have the pizza Hawaii, please."

"And I'll take the spaghetti Carbonara," Scorpius said.

"And to drink, sir?"

Scorpius looked across at Rose. "Is Butterbeer all right?"

Rose nodded. "That would be wonderful."

Scorpius turned back to the waiter. "Two Butterbeers, please." The waiter bustled off to attend to the next table, and Scorpius turned back to Rose. "I've just had an idea."

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Oh? By the look on your face, I'm not sure whether I should be excited or nervous."

"The Hurricanes-Arrows game is on the twenty-second, right?"

"Right…but we're going back to school on the fifteenth."

"So? The game's taking place at the Arrows' pitch near Aberdeen. What's to stop us going to see the game?"

"Well, the fact that we're not supposed to leave school, the fact that we're at least three hours from Aberdeen by car, and would have no way of getting there and back, the fact that someone's sure to notice we're not at school, the fact that getting tickets to a proper game is nearly impossible for two underage students on their own…"

Scorpius smirked. "I have arguments for all of those. Did you know that Aberdeen has a small Wizarding community? We can use the fireplace in the Hogwarts kitchens to Floo to the Silver Hippogriff in Aberdeen, and walk from there. It will be a Saturday, no one's going to notice where we are or aren't. And as for the tickets, well, considering my mum's cousin Joshua Scott is manager for the Hurricanes, I think I'll have no trouble getting them."

Rose stared at him. "Your cousin is the Hurricanes manager?"

Scorpius waved his hand dismissively. "Well, second cousin once removed or something like that. Anyway, will you come?"

"On one condition."

"What's that?"

"We take our brooms with us, use Disillusionment Charms, and fly from Aberdeen to the pitch. I'm not walking all that way."

Now it was Scorpius's turn to stare at her. "You can do Disillusionment Charms? But we won't learn those until after Easter."

Rose shrugged. "Yes…well…I taught myself. So will we fly?"

"Okay."

Their food arrived. It was absolutely delicious.

As they ate, Rose glanced across at Scorpius. He looked up, and saw her looking at him.

He smiled. "What is it?"

"Nothing. I'm just thinking." Rose smiled back at him. "By the way, Scorpius," she said tentatively, "I hope you don't mind that I haven't told Dad anything about the two of us yet?"

Scorpius laughed. "Considering I haven't told my father yet either…"

Rose grinned. "I have told my mum. And one of my aunts. And two of my cousins. But they can be trusted to keep a secret."

"I've told my mum," Scorpius said. "And I owled my best mate, Joseph, this morning. But I know he can be trusted too. After all," Scorpius gave a slight laugh, "he's the one who told me I should ask you out."

"When?"

Scorpius went faintly pink. "Er…in first year."

Rose laughed. "Well, it's only taken you six years. Although I must admit, if you had asked me out in first year, I probably would have hexed you."

Scorpius chuckled. "Yeah, after the way you yelled at me when I suggested a chess game, I decided that asking you out probably wasn't the best idea."

Rose blushed slightly. "Yes, well, I did play chess with you in third year."

"I've always wondered," Scorpius said. "Why did you agree to play?"

Rose shrugged. "I had nothing else to do at the time. And I must admit, I wanted to find out why Dad wanted me to stay away from you."

Scorpius chuckled. "Obviously, it didn't work. So did you find anything?"

Rose smiled. "No. I just found more reasons for getting closer to you."

"Well, I'm glad you did."

"So am I." They smiled at each other. Then Rose sighed. "I still don't want to know what Dad will say when he finds out."

Scorpius shrugged. "That doesn't matter right now, though, does it?"

"No. By the way, do you know what time it is?"

Scorpius looked at his watch. "Quarter to two. What time are we supposed to be meeting at the Cauldron?"

"In fifteen minutes."

They finished eating, Scorpius paid the bill, and they went out into the street again. As they were walking, hand in hand once more, Rose smiled up at Scorpius. "Thanks. I had a nice time."

Scorpius smiled back at her. "So did I."

"I'm assuming," Rose said, as they approached the Leaky Cauldron, "that we're not telling them about—well, us?"

"That depends. Do you want to?"

Rose considered it for a moment. "I'd rather not. For now, at least."

"Okay then, we won't."

They entered the pub, letting go of their hands as they did so. Rose looked around. The room was fairly full, but no one looked familiar. She approached the barmaid. "Excuse me?"

"Yes?"

"We were meant to be meeting some friends of ours, but they don't seem to be in here, so I was wondering if they'd booked one of the downstairs rooms."

"One moment, please." The barmaid vanished through a door at the back of the bar, to return moments later with Hannah Longbottom, the owner of the Cauldron.

Hannah came up to them. "Hello, Rose," she said, smiling. "How's your mother? And the rest of your family?"

"Very well, thank you," Rose replied.

She had always liked Hannah, even though they didn't see her very often, because Hannah ran the Leaky Cauldron and could almost never find time off.

"I'm looking for Mary Finch-Fletchley," Rose said.

Hannah tapped the pencil she was holding against her teeth. "Finch-Fletchley…oh yes, she booked Room 5. Take them there, please, Brenda," she added, turning to the barmaid.

Rose and Scorpius followed Brenda through a door in the corner and down a hallway. They stopped in front of a door with a large number five on it.

Rose knocked. "Come in," someone called from inside.

They entered the room to see a bunch of teenagers sitting around a fireplace on sofas and armchairs, laughing and talking. Mary Finch-Fletchley, who was sprawled on a rug talking to her boyfriend Steven Macmillan, got up and came towards them.

"Hi, Rose, hi, Scorpius," she said, smiling. "Come sit down, we're all waiting for tea to arrive."

"Yeah, why'd you have to order it for two thirty?" someone called over from the other side of the room.

Mary chuckled. "Because I knew people would arrive late. Didn't Al and Lucy come?" she asked, as they sat down.

Rose shook her head. "No, they went to the Falcons' game."

"Against the Harpies, right?"

"Yup."

As Mary turned back to her conversation with Steven, Rose looked around to see who was there. Laura Turpin, Martin Corner, Maria Stevens, Anne Whitby, and Joseph Bryant, as well as Steven and Mary. Just then, Mary walked over to Rose and sat down next to her.

"Rose, tell Steven that the Aberdeen Arrows are going to win the league this year."

"Don't be absurd," Steven, who had followed her, said. "It's obvious that the Hebrides Hurricanes will."

"You're wrong," Rose said, grinning at him. "The Aberdeen Arrows are going to win, anyone can see that."

"Nope," Scorpius put in, leaning on the back of the sofa. "Hurricanes."

Mary huffed. "Anne," she called. "Tell these poor deluded people that the Arrows are going to win the League this year."

"They won't, the Exeter Eagles will," Anne promptly called back.

"Hold on," Rose said. "Has anyone got a quill and parchment?" Mary produced some from the depths of her bag. "Right," Rose said, writing. "This, when completed, is going to be a survey. I've written down all the teams, and we'll sign under the one we think we'll win."

Rose signed her name under 'Aberdeen Arrows' with a flourish, and passed the parchment to Mary. After Scorpius and Steven had also voted, Rose took the parchment around the room. When she'd finished, she sat down next to Mary again.

"So, that's two for Arrows, two for Eagles, two for Hurricanes, one for Harpies, two for Falcons, and one…" Rose laughed, "for Cannons."

Mary took the parchment. "Who's the poor deluded person who thinks the Cannons are going to win anything?" she asked incredulously. She scanned the parchment. "Hey, Martin!"

A tall, black-haired boy in the window seat looked up. "What?"

Mary waved the parchment. "Chudley Cannons? Seriously?"

"You never know," Martin said. "After all, in their last game, they beat the Kenmare Kestrels by thirty points."

"That was a once off," Rose said. Then she glanced down at the parchment again, and did a double take. "Hey, wait a minute…" She counted and then recounted. Yup, ten signatures, and only nine people in the room. "Maria?"

"Yes?" Maria Stevens sat down on the rug in front of them.

"You can't sign for Albus when he isn't here."

Maria widened her blue eyes innocently. "It's what he would have voted if he'd been able to."

"Yes, but it still doesn't count. So, correction: one for Falcons."

"I still say the Hurricanes are going to win."

"Steven, look at it sensibly," Mary said, sighing.

"He is," Scorpius said, grinning.

Mary turned to Rose exasperatedly. "Support me here! Help me get it through their thick heads that the Hurricanes are not—going—to—win."

"I'll do that gladly," Rose said.

Anne, who had by now drifted over, laughed. "I'll join you in doing so, but I still support the Eagles."

Rose shook her head. "Not me. The Eagles are good, I'll give you that, but I'm still an Arrows fan all the way. My cousin Roxy thinks I'm mental, but who cares?"

"I'm inclined to agree with her sometimes," Scorpius muttered, grinning.

Rose glared at him, and then looked at the parchment again. "This hasn't really decided anything, though. Arrows, Hurricanes, and Eagles drew even."

"We'll just have to debate it, then," Anne said, her eyes twinkling.

And debate it they did. For the next hour. They only stopped talking to eat, when their tea arrived. From professional Quidditch, the conversation turned to the Quidditch Cup at Hogwarts, and then to what they all planned to do after school.

At last, Rose looked at her watch. "I've got to go," she said, standing up. "Aunt Ginny will not be happy with me if I'm late for dinner."

"What time is it?" Mary asked.

"Half-past six."

Everyone else began to pick up their stuff and get ready to leave. They exited the room en masse and went down the hall to the main room of the Cauldron.

Rose drew Scorpius aside. "Meet me down by the oak tree after dinner?"

Scorpius nodded. "Sure."

Rose went back over to the group standing by the fireplace. "Bye, Mary. I'm glad you organized this. I enjoyed it."

"So did I. Thanks for coming, Rose. See you at Hogwarts!"

Rose took a handful of Floo powder and stepped into the fireplace. "Potter residence!"

She stepped out of the fireplace in the kitchen, brushing off ash as she did so. Ginny was standing at the stove. She looked up as Rose appeared.

"Hello, Rose," she said, smiling. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yes, very. How was the game?"

Ginny laughed. "Don't ask Al that. The Harpies beat the Falcons 370 to 130."

Rose chuckled. "I bet he wasn't too happy."

"You could say that."

As Rose started to leave the kitchen, Ginny called her back. "Stay here a minute. I wanted to talk to you about something."

Rose settled herself at the kitchen table. "Go ahead."

"You know that Astoria and I were friends back at Hogwarts," Ginny began. Rose nodded. "Well, she's decided she wants to have me visit them for a week or so in the summer. And you as well."

Rose stared at her. "Why? I mean, why me? Why not Lily?" She paused, suddenly suspicious. "When did she ask you?"

"Last week. So in case you're wondering, it wasn't because you're dating her son."

"Well, then, any specific reason?"

Ginny shrugged. "She wants to get to know you better. Her daughter Elanor has apparently taken a shine to you."

Rose chuckled. "She's a cute little girl. Not that she talks to me much."

"So how about it?" Ginny asked.

Rose frowned slightly. "I would love to, but I don't know whether Dad would let me. I can't see him being happy with the idea of his daughter visiting the Malfoys…" She paused. "So that's what you and Uncle Harry were talking about the morning of Victoire's wedding!"

Ginny frowned, thinking. "Yes, we were. Well, are you coming?"

Rose laughed. "If you can help me convince Dad to let me go, then of course."

Ginny smiled. "Excellent." Then she turned back to the stove. "Oops, I nearly boiled the potatoes dry. Do me a favour, Rose, find the others and tell them it's dinner time, please."

Rose nodded, and went off to search for her cousins.

That evening, once dinner was over, Rose quietly slipped out of the house and down to the oak tree. The moon gave her just enough light to see that Scorpius wasn't there yet. She sat down by the edge of the stream, watching the moonlight reflecting off the ripples in the water.

Suddenly, she felt someone slip an arm around her shoulder. She turned and smiled at the blond who had settled himself next to her. "Hi, Scorpius."

"Hello, Rose."

"I think I might be coming to your house this summer."

Scorpius looked surprised. "What?"

"Ginny told me just now that your mum's invited us over for a week or so. Just me and Ginny," Rose clarified.

"Why just the two of you?"

Rose shrugged. "Search me. Apparently, your sister Elanor likes me a lot."

Scorpius chuckled. "She's not the only one."

Rose smiled and leaned against his shoulder. "I know."

"I would love it if you came," Scorpius said after a bit, "but the problem is…"

"You don't know how we're going to keep our relationship secret while spending a week together?"

"Exactly."

Rose sighed. She stared at the running water for a moment, and then looked up at her boyfriend. "The way I see it, we've got three options—well, four, but I don't think you want to break up with me, which is option number one."

Scorpius shook his head emphatically. "What are the others?"

"Number two, I politely decline and stay home. Number three, I come, and we spend the week doing our best to ignore each other, which on my part I would find rather difficult."

"I'm irresistible, I know," Scorpius grinned.

Rose frowned and swatted him on the shoulder, but smiled anyway.

"Number four…" Rose took a deep breath and looked straight at Scorpius. "I accept, we tell our dads that we're dating, and face the music."

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><p><strong>AN: *dramatic background music* Dun, dun, dun... What will they decide? Review to find out!**


	28. Making decisions

**A/N: *nervously sidles on-screen* Um, hello? *ducks to avoid well-deserved projectiles* I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Er, as you can see, I'm back. What's more, I actually wrote something! *pauses for gasps of shock* Anyway, I've finally taken up working on this story again, and I'm really sorry for how long it's taken me. I promise there won't be ten months between now and the next chapter. In fact, I'm going to go start working on it tonight.**

**So, I hope you can all still remember what the story's about...**

**Warning in advance: this chapter ends on a cliffhanger of sorts too. Not quite as dramatic as the last one, though. And I'll try to get chapter 29 out in the next two weeks.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>"You said what?" Lily gasped.<p>

"I said we'd have to tell Dad and Mr. Malfoy," Rose said for the second time, looking across at her cousin.

Lily leaned back against her pillows, looking thoughtful. "And I assume from your tone of voice that you still haven't decided what to do?"

Rose shook her head. "All we decided last night was that we'd think about it." She moved up the bed to sit next to Lily. "And I haven't come up with any answers yet."

Lily squinted slightly as the early morning sun hit her in the eyes. Shifting, she frowned. "Well, what are the advantages and disadvantages to every option? Think it through logically."

"Oh, I never thought of doing that." Rose rolled her eyes. "I didn't wake you up to be told to be logical."

Lily huffed. "Well, the only other thing I can tell you is to just go with the flow, which you evidently don't want to do. What time is it, anyway?"

Rose swiftly turned the bedside clock around to face the wall. Normally, she wasn't up this early either, but worrying about the events of the night before had disrupted her sleeping schedule. "Nuh-uh, not distracting me like that. What do you think I should do?"

"I know what I would do," Lily said slowly.

Rose sat up eagerly. "What?"

Lily shook her head determinedly. "Nope, not telling you. This is one thing you're going to have to figure out on your own." She reached across Rose and picked up the clock. "Rose Weasley! I am going back to sleep and you will not wake me for at least two hours. It is the _holidays_, in case you'd forgotten."

And without further ado, she turned over and closed her eyes.

Rose sighed. She knew she wouldn't have been able to fall asleep again, so she got up and walked over to the window ledge. The sun had just come out over the trees, and the world seemed calm and peaceful in the dawn light. Rose sat down on the windowsill and leaned her forehead against the glass. She bit her lip, thinking over what had happened the previous night.

After she'd mentioned telling their parents, a silence had fallen. Scorpius had looked at the stream, his face contemplative. Eventually he had turned to Rose.

"I'll have to think about it."

And then he'd gone into the house, giving her a quick goodnight.

Rose thought over the options again. Option one...out of the question. Option three...similarly out of the question, as well as impossible. Option two...the obvious choice—if she didn't want Ron to know. She didn't, of course. Right?

Rose stood up, resolutely pushing the thought of option four out of her mind. She wasn't thinking very clearly anyway, after her restless night. Flying ought to wake her up.

Ten minutes later, she was down on the Quidditch pitch, looping through the air on her Lightning Bolt 300. It was an old broom now, having been a present from her parents in her second year, but it was still fairly good, and she felt comfortable on it.

Flying through the cool morning air certainly helped her wake up, but half an hour later, she still hadn't come up with any solution to her dilemna. She flew back to the house, put her broom away, and went inside.

Ginny was sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of tea, looking as though she'd just gotten out of bed.

"Good morning."

Ginny jumped. "Oh, good morning, Rose. I didn't know you were u-u-uuup," she yawned.

Rose laughed, sitting down opposite her aunt. "I didn't feel the need to wake you."

"Thank you. I can't remember the last time you woke me for no reason, though. When you were younger you used to do so every time you spent the weekend here."

"As far as I recall, you always got up to play with me," Rose said.

"Yup. And then when you went home, I would sleep for about five hours."

Rose laughed. "I don't suppose you've been able to take five-hour naps over the last week or so."

Ginny shook her head. "No, not really. But with you lot going back to school tomorrow, I'll have peace and quiet again."

Rose looked startled. "Tomorrow? I'd forgotten we were leaving so soon. I haven't packed anything yet."

Ginny shrugged. "I doubt anyone has. To completely change the subject, are you coming with me?"

Rose bit her lip, looking down at the table. "I—I don't know. If I go, we're going to have to make our relationship public, and I'm not really looking forward to Dad's response."

"Well, what's the worst he can do?" Ginny asked, standing up and moving over to the stove. "Hermione's not going to let him hex you, he won't disinherit you, at the very worst, he'll refuse to ever let Scorpius anywhere near the house. And knowing Ron, once he sees that you two are happy together, he'll come around anyway."

Rose frowned. "I guess. I'll have to talk to Scorpius about it."

Ginny began making breakfast, and Rose went outside again. She looked around the garden for a moment, and then headed towards the woods. Five minutes later, she was sitting on the roof of her treehouse, watching the wind in the leaves and trying not to think too hard. It was a nice morning, generally conductive to not thinking.

"Rose?"

Rose turned with a jump, staring at the blond who had appeared, it almost seemed, out of nowhere. "Scorpius. Er, hi."

Scorpius moved to sit next to her, and they sat there in silence for a while. Rose was doing her best not to look in his direction. She didn't want to know what she would see on his face. Eventually, however, the silence began to unnerve her. He'd been acting oddly last night too. Why wasn't he saying anything?

Rose turned to look at her boyfriend just as he looked at her. She opened her mouth to say something, and then stopped. She didn't know what she was going to say anyway.

They stared at each other for a moment. At last, Scorpius raised an eyebrow.

"Why aren't you saying anything?"

Rose shrugged. "I—I don't know." She turned to look at the trees again, twisting her fingers together. "What's—what's my dad going to say?" she blurted out.

Scorpius slipped an arm around her shoulders. Rose started, surprised at the contact, and then allowed herself to relax somewhat.

"Does that matter?" Scorpius asked calmly.

Rose leaned her head against his shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"Does it matter what your dad says? He can't do anything about it. If he doesn't like the idea of us dating, that's his problem, not ours."

Rose sighed. "I guess."

Scorpius gave her shoulders a little shake. "Rose, don't worry about it. We'll be fine."

Rose turned her head up to look at him. "Are you sure?"

Scorpius nodded. "Of course."

Rose smiled slowly, taking in the serious look on her boyfriend's face. Then she stretched up a little farther, and kissed him.

It was the first time she'd instigated a kiss, and she enjoyed it. Judging by the look on his face when she pulled back, so did he.

Rose gave him a hug, and then frowned again, thinking. "But are we going to tell Dad or not?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Would you rather tell him straight out, or wait for someone to catch us snogging in a cupboard?"

Rose pulled back, slapping him. "I'm not snogging you in a cupboard."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "Where would you like to snog, then?"

Rose turned faintly pink. "That wasn't—that's not the point right now."

Scorpius laughed. "Fine, fine. We'll discuss that later."

"I think I'd rather just tell him and get it over with," Rose said slowly, looking out at the forest again. "I just don't know when."

"How about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes, at King's Cross. He's coming to see you off, right?" At Rose's nod, Scorpius continued. "All right, so you say goodbye, see you in the summer, etcetera, and then just before you jump on board, you tell him we're dating. It won't give him time to do anything, and by the time you go home again, he'll have gotten over it."

Rose considered the plan for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay. I'll do that." Then she turned sideways, so that she was facing Scorpius, and slid her hands around his neck. "Right now, however, I have some better ideas as to what we could be doing."

A while later, the two of them headed back to the house. Most of her cousins were up and about, mainly in the kitchen, so Rose said goodbye to Scorpius and went inside. Once she'd said good morning to everyone, she made her way up to the top of the house, pulled her trunk out of the storeroom they'd put it in, and looked for her things. They were scattered all over Lily's room. Rose grinned to herself as she pulled out her wand. Normally, this would have taken her forever, but now...

Several quick spells later, Rose's trunk was packed, and she was on her way downstairs again. James stopped her as she passed by his room.

"Hey, Rose?"

"What?"

"Care to come on a picnic? We thought we'd celebrate the last day of the Easter holidays."

"Who's we?"

James shrugged. "Everyone. Dom, Fred, Roxy, Al, Lily, Hugo."

Rose nodded. "When and where are we going?"

"In about half an hour. We thought we'd walk out across the fields and see where we end up."

"Sounds good."

Rose frowned to herself as she carried on down to the ground floor. There was no way she could invite Scorpius along, could she? Dominique had accepted him, and Lily didn't seem to mind, but none of the others knew yet, and she wasn't sure how Fred and James especially would react. Although, if she was going to be telling her father the next day, maybe she should let her cousins know before they found out because of Ron sending her a Howler at Hogwarts or something.

Rose smiled in spite of herself. It would have been rather funny to see James's face if a Howler arrived for her, shouting to the entire school about her relationship with Scorpius. Then her smile vanished. If only Dad wouldn't do that.

Rose went into the sitting-room to find a quill and parchment, scribbled off a quick note to Scorpius, and with a flick of her wand sent it flying out the window. Then she headed back out into the garden.

She'd been sitting down by the stream for a few minutes when she felt someone sit down next to her and slip their arm around her shoulders.

"What's this, Weasley, not able to survive twenty minutes without me?"

Rose laughed. "You wish." She gave Scorpius a quick kiss. "No, I was wondering if you wanted to come on a picnic this afternoon."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. "With who?"

Rose bit her lip. "Um, me, James, Al, Lily, Fred, Roxy, Dom, Hugo..."

"In other words, a nice family outing. And James specifically asked you to be sure to tell me?"

"No, James has no clue."

"I thought not. In that case, I'd love to come, on one condition."

"What's that?"

"I get to kiss you at least once."

"What kind of a condition is that? And do you mean at the picnic or now?"

Scorpius grinned. "I wouldn't mind both."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I meant that since we'll be telling Dad tomorrow, it might be a good idea to let my cousins know as well."

Scorpius considered it for a moment. "Okay. What time and where?"

"In about twenty minutes. James said we'll walk out across the fields and see where we end up, so I'm guessing we'll start by the river path. Just meet us down at the end of the garden, I'll make sure we don't leave without you."

"Rose!" someone called at that moment.

She turned, calling over her shoulder. "Coming!" She scrambled to her feet. "See you soon." Then she was off up the path to the house, leaving Scorpius looking after her.


End file.
